New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Jeremiah 9
1
I wish my head were a spring of water! I wish my eyes were a fountain of tears! I would sob day and night over my people who have been killed.
Reference
2
I wish I had somewhere to go in the desert where a traveler could stay! Then I could leave my people. I could get away from them. All of them commit adultery by worshiping other gods. They aren't faithful to the Lord.
Reference
3
"They get ready to use their tongues like bows," announces the Lord. "Their mouths shoot out lies like arrows. They tell lies to gain power in the land. They go from one sin to another. They do not pay any attention to me.
Reference
Evil
Jeremiah 4:22
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 9:8
Romans 3:13
Revelation 12:11
Jeremiah 7:26
References Lord
Judges 2:10
Jeremiah 31:34
1 Samuel 2:12
Jeremiah 22:16
Truth
Jeremiah 9:5
4
Be on guard against your friends. Do not trust the members of your own family. Every one of them cheats. Every friend tells lies.
Reference
Faith
Jeremiah 12:6
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 6:28
Matthew 10:21
Leviticus 19:16
Psalm 15:3
Proverbs 25:18
Proverbs 10:18
Genesis 32:28
5
One friend cheats another. No one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues how to lie. They wear themselves out sinning.
Reference
6
Jeremiah, you live among people who tell lies. When they lie, they refuse to pay any attention to me," announces the Lord.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 13:10
Proverbs 1:24
Jeremiah 8:5
Jeremiah 5:27
Jeremiah 11:19
Jeremiah 20:10
Romans 1:28
Hosea 4:6
Jeremiah 18:18
References Lord
Proverbs 1:29
7
So the Lord who rules over all says, "I will put them through the fire to test them. What else can I do? My people are so sinful!
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 1:25
Isaiah 48:10
Jeremiah 6:27
1 Peter 4:12
1 Peter 1:7
References Lord
Malachi 3:3
Zechariah 13:9
8
Their tongues are like deadly arrows. They tell lies. With their mouths all of them speak kindly to their neighbors. But in their hearts they set traps for them.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 120:3
Jeremiah 9:3
Psalm 55:21
Psalm 12:2
Psalm 57:4
2 Samuel 3:27
Peace
Psalm 28:3
9
Shouldn't I punish them for that?" announces the Lord. "Shouldn't I pay back the nation that does those things?"
Reference
10
I will cry and sob over the fields in the hills. I will sing a song of sadness about the desert grasslands. They are dry and empty. No one travels through them. The mooing of cattle isn't heard there. The birds of the air have flown away. All of the animals are gone.
Reference
11
The Lord says, "I will knock all of Jerusalem's buildings down. I will make it a home for wild dogs. The towns of Judah will be completely destroyed. No one will be able to live in them."
Reference
12
Who is wise enough to understand those things? Who has been taught by the Lord? Who can explain them? Why has the land been destroyed so completely? Why has it become like a desert that no one can go across?
Reference
13
The Lord answered me, "Because my people have turned away from my law. I gave it to them. But they have not kept it. They have not obeyed me.
Reference
14
Instead, they have done what their stubborn hearts wanted them to do. They have worshiped the gods that are named after Baal. They have done what their people have taught them to do down through the years."
Reference
15
So now the Lord who rules over all speaks. He is the God of Israel. He says, "I will make these people eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 80:5
Lamentations 3:15
References God
Jeremiah 8:14
References Lord
Jeremiah 23:15
16
I will scatter them among the nations. They and their people before them have not had anything to do with those nations before. I will chase these people with swords. I will hunt them down until I have destroyed them."
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 28:64
Jeremiah 13:24
Word
Ezekiel 5:2
Ezekiel 5:12
Leviticus 26:33
Jeremiah 44:27
17
The Lord rules over all. He says, "Here is something I want you to think about. Send for the women who sob over the dead. Send for the most skilled among them."
Reference
18
Let them come quickly and sob over us. Let them cry until tears flow from our eyes. Let them sob until water pours out of our eyes.
Reference
19
People are heard sobbing in Zion. They are saying, "We are destroyed! We are filled with shame! We must leave our land. Our houses have been torn down."
Reference
20
Women, hear the Lord's message. Listen to what he's saying. Teach your daughters how to sob over the dead. Teach one another a song of sadness.
Reference
21
Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered our forts. It has removed the children from the streets. It has taken the young people out of the market places.
Reference
22
Say, "The Lord announces, " 'The dead bodies of men will be like trash lying in the open fields. They will lie there like grain that is cut down at harvest time. No one will gather them up.' "
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 8:2
Psalm 83:10
Jeremiah 16:4
References Lord
Jeremiah 25:33
Isaiah 5:25
Zephaniah 1:17
23
The Lord says, "Do not let a wise man brag about how wise he is. Do not let a strong man boast about how strong he is. Do not let a rich person brag about how rich he is.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Isaiah 5:21
Romans 1:22
Proverbs 11:4
Psalm 62:10
Daniel 4:37
Deuteronomy 8:17
1 Timothy 6:10
Mark 10:24
References Lord
Ezekiel 7:19
24
But here is what the one who brags should boast about. He should brag that he has understanding and knows me. I want him to know that I am the Lord. No matter what I do on earth, I am always kind, fair and right. And I take delight in that," announces the Lord.
Reference
Glory
2 Corinthians 10:17
Galatians 6:14
1 Corinthians 1:31
Light
Micah 7:18
Parallel theme
Psalm 44:8
1 John 5:20
John 17:3
Psalm 51:1
Psalm 91:14
Righteousness
Micah 6:8
25
"The days are coming when I will judge people," announces the Lord. "I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their bodies.
Summary of Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 9 is dominated by grief, deception, judgment, and the difference between outward identity and genuine knowledge of God.
The chapter begins with Jeremiah expressing extraordinary sorrow over his people.
He wishes that his head were filled with water and his eyes were a constant source of tears because the destruction approaching Judah is so painful to him.
Jeremiah is not simply announcing judgment as a detached observer.
He deeply identifies with the suffering of the people.
He even wishes he could escape into the wilderness because dishonesty and corruption have become so widespread that normal relationships can no longer be trusted.
The chapter repeatedly focuses on lies and deception.
People deceive their neighbors, relatives, and friends.
They speak peacefully while secretly planning harm.
Their tongues are compared to arrows because words can become weapons capable of destroying relationships and communities.
The deeper problem is that the people have refused to know God.
Their dishonesty is therefore not simply a social problem but evidence that they have rejected the character and authority of the God they claim to worship.
God says that He will refine and test them, like metal placed in a furnace.
But the purpose of this testing reveals how deeply the corruption has become established.
The people have rejected God's law and followed the stubborn desires of their own hearts.
They have also continued the worship of Baal and other gods, following religious practices that had been passed down through earlier generations.
Judgment therefore becomes unavoidable.
The land itself will suffer.
Jerusalem will become a ruin, towns will be abandoned, pasturelands will become empty, and wild animals will occupy places previously filled with people.
The coming destruction is not presented as a random political accident.
Jeremiah explains that Judah's military catastrophe is the consequence of its long-term rejection of God's covenant.
The chapter then describes the human cost of that judgment.
Professional mourners are called to lead the community in grief.
Women are told to teach their daughters how to mourn because the disaster will affect the entire society.
Homes will be destroyed, people will be driven from the land, and death will enter ordinary streets and households.
The image of bodies lying exposed on the ground communicates the horror of a society overwhelmed by war, famine, and death.
Yet one of the most important teachings appears near the end of the chapter.
God tells people not to boast in wisdom, strength, or wealth.
These things may provide temporary advantages, but none of them can ultimately save a person or a nation.
True confidence comes from knowing God and understanding that He practices mercy, justice, and righteousness.
This is particularly important because Judah possessed a strong religious identity.
The people were circumcised and belonged to the covenant community, yet God says physical circumcision alone is insufficient.
A person can possess the outward sign of belonging to God while remaining inwardly rebellious.
The chapter ends by widening the scope of judgment to surrounding nations.
Judah is not automatically protected simply because it carries a covenant identity, and other nations are also accountable before God.
The central message is that God is deeply concerned not merely with religious identity, wisdom, wealth, military strength, or outward ceremony, but with whether people genuinely know Him and reflect His mercy, justice, and righteousness; Jeremiah mourns because Judah has replaced truth with deception, obedience with stubbornness, and genuine worship with inherited religious practices, and the coming Babylonian judgment will expose how powerless wealth, political strength, religious status, and human wisdom are when a society has abandoned the character and commands of God.
The chapter begins with Jeremiah expressing extraordinary sorrow over his people.
He wishes that his head were filled with water and his eyes were a constant source of tears because the destruction approaching Judah is so painful to him.
Jeremiah is not simply announcing judgment as a detached observer.
He deeply identifies with the suffering of the people.
He even wishes he could escape into the wilderness because dishonesty and corruption have become so widespread that normal relationships can no longer be trusted.
The chapter repeatedly focuses on lies and deception.
People deceive their neighbors, relatives, and friends.
They speak peacefully while secretly planning harm.
Their tongues are compared to arrows because words can become weapons capable of destroying relationships and communities.
The deeper problem is that the people have refused to know God.
Their dishonesty is therefore not simply a social problem but evidence that they have rejected the character and authority of the God they claim to worship.
God says that He will refine and test them, like metal placed in a furnace.
But the purpose of this testing reveals how deeply the corruption has become established.
The people have rejected God's law and followed the stubborn desires of their own hearts.
They have also continued the worship of Baal and other gods, following religious practices that had been passed down through earlier generations.
Judgment therefore becomes unavoidable.
The land itself will suffer.
Jerusalem will become a ruin, towns will be abandoned, pasturelands will become empty, and wild animals will occupy places previously filled with people.
The coming destruction is not presented as a random political accident.
Jeremiah explains that Judah's military catastrophe is the consequence of its long-term rejection of God's covenant.
The chapter then describes the human cost of that judgment.
Professional mourners are called to lead the community in grief.
Women are told to teach their daughters how to mourn because the disaster will affect the entire society.
Homes will be destroyed, people will be driven from the land, and death will enter ordinary streets and households.
The image of bodies lying exposed on the ground communicates the horror of a society overwhelmed by war, famine, and death.
Yet one of the most important teachings appears near the end of the chapter.
God tells people not to boast in wisdom, strength, or wealth.
These things may provide temporary advantages, but none of them can ultimately save a person or a nation.
True confidence comes from knowing God and understanding that He practices mercy, justice, and righteousness.
This is particularly important because Judah possessed a strong religious identity.
The people were circumcised and belonged to the covenant community, yet God says physical circumcision alone is insufficient.
A person can possess the outward sign of belonging to God while remaining inwardly rebellious.
The chapter ends by widening the scope of judgment to surrounding nations.
Judah is not automatically protected simply because it carries a covenant identity, and other nations are also accountable before God.
The central message is that God is deeply concerned not merely with religious identity, wisdom, wealth, military strength, or outward ceremony, but with whether people genuinely know Him and reflect His mercy, justice, and righteousness; Jeremiah mourns because Judah has replaced truth with deception, obedience with stubbornness, and genuine worship with inherited religious practices, and the coming Babylonian judgment will expose how powerless wealth, political strength, religious status, and human wisdom are when a society has abandoned the character and commands of God.