Jeremiah 9

mi-yitteneni vammidbar melon orekhim ve'e'ezvah et-ammi ve'elekhah me'ittam ki khullam mena'afim atseret bogedim

Oh, to be in the desert, At an encampment for wayfarers! Oh, to leave my people, To go away from them— For they are all adulterers, A band of rogues.

vayyadrekhu et-leshonam qashtam sheqer velo le'emunah gaveru va'arets ki mera'ah el-ra'ah yatsa'u ve'oti lo-yada'u ne'um-Adonai

They bend their tongues like bows; They are valorous in the land For treachery, not for honesty; They advance from evil to evil. And they do not heed Me —declares GOD.

ish mere'ehu hishameru ve'al-kol-akh al-tivtakhu ki khol-akh aqov yaqov vekhol-rea rakhil yahalokh

Each of you, beware of your friend! Trust not even your kinsfolk! For every sibling takes advantage, Every friend deals basely.

ve'ish bere'ehu yehatellu ve'emet lo yedabberu limmedu leshonam dabber-sheqer ha'aveh nilu

They cheat each other, They will not speak truth; They have trained their tongues to speak falsely; They wear themselves out working iniquity.

shivtekha betokh mirmah bemirmah me'anu da'at-oti ne'um-Adonai

You dwell in the midst of deceit. In their deceit, they refuse to heed Me —declares GOD.

lakhen koh amar Adonai tseva'ot hinni tsorefam uvekhantim ki-ekh e'eseh mippene bat-ammi

Assuredly, thus said GOD of Hosts: Lo, I shall smelt and assay them— For what else can I do because of My poor people?

khets (shvkht) [shakhut] leshonam mirmah dibber befiv shalom et-re'ehu yedabber uveqirbo yasim orbo

Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, They use their mouths to deceive. They speak to their fellows in friendship, But lay an ambush for them in their hearts.

ha'al-elleh lo-efqod-bam ne'um-Adonai im begoy asher-kazeh lo titnaqqem nafshi

Shall I not punish them for such deeds? —says GOD— Shall I not bring retribution On such a nation as this?

al-heharim essa vekhi vanehi ve'al-ne'ot midbar qinah ki nitsetu mibbeli-ish over velo shame'u qol miqneh me'of hashamayim ve'ad-behemah nadedu halakhu

For the mountains I take up weeping and wailing, For the pastures in the wilderness, a dirge. They are laid waste; nobody passes through, And no sound of cattle is heard. Birds of the sky and beasts as well Have fled and are gone.

venatatti et-yerushalai͏m legallim me'on tannim ve'et-are yehudah etten shemamah mibbeli yoshev

I will turn Jerusalem into rubble, Into dens for jackals; And I will make the towns of Judah A desolation without inhabitants.

mi-ha'ish hekhakham veyaven et-zot va'asher dibber pi-Adonai elayw veyaggidah al-mah avedah ha'arets nitsetah khammidbar mibbeli over

Is anybody so wise As to understand this? To whom has GOD’s mouth spoken, So that it can be related: Why is the land in ruins, Laid waste like a wilderness, With none passing through?

vayyomer Adonai al-ozvam et-torati asher natatti lifnehem velo-shame'u veqoli velo-halekhu vah

GOD replied: Because they forsook the Teaching I had set before them. They did not obey Me and they did not follow it,

vayyelekhu akhare sherirut libbam ve'akhare habbe'alim asher limmedum avotam

but followed their own willful heart and followed the Baalim, as their ancestors had taught them.

lakhen koh-amar Adonai tseva'ot elohe yisra'el hinni ma'akhilam et-ha'am hazzeh la'anah vehishqitim me-rosh

Assuredly, thus said GOD of Hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to feed that people wormwood and make them drink a bitter draft.

vahafitsotim baggoyim asher lo yade'u hemmah va'avotam veshillakhti akharehem et-hakherev ad kalloti otam

I will scatter them among nations that they and their ancestors never knew; and I will dispatch the sword after them until I have consumed them.

koh amar Adonai tseva'ot hitbonenu veqiru lamqonenot utevo'enah ve'el-hakhakhamot shilkhu vetavonah

Thus said GOD of Hosts: Listen! Summon the dirge-singers, let them come; Send for the skilled women, let them come.

utemaherenah vetissenah alenu nehi veteradnah enenu dimah ve'afappenu yizzelu-mayim

Let them quickly start a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, Our pupils flow with water.

ki qol nehi nishma mitsiyyon ekh shuddadenu boshenu me'od ki-azavnu arets ki hishlikhu mishkenotenu

For the sound of wailing Is heard from Zion: How we are despoiled! How greatly we are shamed! Ah, we must leave our land, Abandon our dwellings!

ki-shemanah nashim devar-Adonai vetiqqakh oznekhem devar-piv velammedenah venotekhem nehi ve'isha re'utah qinah

Hear, O women, the word of GOD, Let your ears receive the divine word, And teach your daughters wailing, And one another lamentation.

ki-alah mavet bekhallonenu ba be'armenotenu lehakhrit olal mikhuts bakhurim merekhovot

For death has climbed through our windows, Has entered our fortresses, To cut off babes from the streets, Young men from the squares.

dabber koh ne'um-Adonai venafelah nivlat ha'adam kedomen al-pene hassadeh ukhe'amir me'akhare haqqotser ve'en me'assef

Speak thus—says GOD: People’s carcasses shall lie Like dung upon the fields, Like sheaves behind the reaper, With none to pick them up.

koh amar Adonai al-yithallel khakham bekhokhmato ve'al-yithallel haggibbor bigvurato al-yithallel ashir be'oshro

Thus said GOD: Let not the wise glory in their wisdom; Let not the strong glory in their strength; Let not the rich glory in their riches.

ki im-bezot yithallel hammithallel haskel veyadoa oti ki ani Adonai oseh khesed mishpat utsedaqah ba'arets ki-ve'elleh khafatsti ne'um-Adonai

But only in this should one glory: In being earnestly devoted to Me. For I GOD act with kindness, Justice, and equity in the world; For in these I delight —declares GOD.

hinneh yamim ba'im ne'um-Adonai ufaqadti al-kol-mul be'orlah

Lo, days are coming—declares GOD—when I will take note of everyone circumcised in the foreskin:

al-mitsrayim ve'al-yehudah ve'al-edom ve'al-bene ammon ve'al-mo'av ve'al kol-qetsutse fe'ah hayyoshevim bammidbar ki khol-haggoyim arelim vekhol-bet yisra'el arle-lev

of Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the desert dwellers who have the hair of their temples clipped. For all these nations are uncircumcised, but all the House of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.