{[chapter 8:23. in Hebrew]} {Or, Oh that I were in the wilderness, in &c.}Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! {[chapter 9:1. in Hebrew]}
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for {Or, faithfulness}truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.
Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
And they will {Or, mock}deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him.
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone.
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through?
And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,
but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them;
therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of {Or, poison}gall to drink.
I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come:
and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because {Or, our dwellings have cast us out}they have cast down our dwellings.
Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
Speak, Thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather them.
Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches;
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah.
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision:
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 9,14 Jer 9,14
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of {Hebrew: bread.}victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and {Or, turned their back, and not their face}went backward, and not forward.
Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets cried, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith Jehovah.
And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves:
and I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of mine own age {Greek: in my race. Compare 2 Corinthians 11:26.}among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the {Greek: thoughts.}mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:—
knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, {Or, to make a trade of}to work all uncleanness with {Or, covetousness Compare chapter 5:3; Colossians 3:5.}greediness.