Add parallel Print Page Options

Jeremiah Speaks at the Temple

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go to the entrance of the Lord’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the Lord! Listen to it, all of you who worship here! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:

“‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant, “The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!” But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.

“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, 10 and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? 11 Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken!

12 “‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites. 13 While you were doing these wicked things, says the Lord, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer. 14 So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel.[a]

Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

16 “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods! 19 Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”

20 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.”

21 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! 22 When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. 23 This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’

24 “But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward. 25 From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out. 26 But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.

27 “Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond. 28 Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips. 29 Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’

The Valley of Slaughter

30 “The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it. 31 They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! 32 So beware, for the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when that garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the bodies in Topheth until there is no more room for them. 33 The bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away. 34 I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete desolation.

“In that day,” says the Lord, “the enemy will break open the graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests, prophets, and common people of Jerusalem. They will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure. And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!

Deception by False Prophets

“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
    When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?
    Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?
They cling tightly to their lies
    and will not turn around.
I listen to their conversations
    and don’t hear a word of truth.
Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?
    Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”?
No! All are running down the path of sin
    as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!
Even the stork that flies across the sky
    knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.[b]
    They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
    They do not know the Lord’s laws.

“‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,”
    when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
These wise teachers will fall
    into the trap of their own foolishness,
for they have rejected the word of the Lord.
    Are they so wise after all?
10 I will give their wives to others
    and their farms to strangers.
From the least to the greatest,
    their lives are ruled by greed.
Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.
    They are all frauds.
11 They offer superficial treatments
    for my people’s mortal wound.
They give assurances of peace
    when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions?
    Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!
Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.
    They will be brought down when I punish them,
    says the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them.
    There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes.
Their fruit trees will all die.
    Whatever I gave them will soon be gone.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!’

14 “Then the people will say,
    ‘Why should we wait here to die?
Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there.
    For the Lord our God has decreed our destruction
and has given us a cup of poison to drink
    because we sinned against the Lord.
15 We hoped for peace, but no peace came.
    We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’

16 “The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heard
    all the way from the land of Dan in the north!
The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.
    They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—
    cities and people alike.
17 I will send these enemy troops among you
    like poisonous snakes you cannot charm.
They will bite you, and you will die.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Jeremiah Weeps for Sinful Judah

18 My grief is beyond healing;
    my heart is broken.
19 Listen to the weeping of my people;
    it can be heard all across the land.
“Has the Lord abandoned Jerusalem?[c]” the people ask.
    “Is her King no longer there?”

“Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idols
    and their worthless foreign gods?” says the Lord.

20 “The harvest is finished,
    and the summer is gone,” the people cry,
    “yet we are not saved!”

21 I hurt with the hurt of my people.
    I mourn and am overcome with grief.
22 Is there no medicine in Gilead?
    Is there no physician there?
Why is there no healing
    for the wounds of my people?

[d]If only my head were a pool of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
    for all my people who have been slaughtered.
[e]Oh, that I could go away and forget my people
    and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert.
For they are all adulterers—
    a pack of treacherous liars.

Judgment for Disobedience

“My people bend their tongues like bows
    to shoot out lies.
They refuse to stand up for the truth.
    They only go from bad to worse.
They do not know me,”
    says the Lord.

“Beware of your neighbor!
    Don’t even trust your brother!
For brother takes advantage of brother,
    and friend slanders friend.
They all fool and defraud each other;
    no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
    they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
They pile lie upon lie
    and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,”
    says the Lord.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“See, I will melt them down in a crucible
    and test them like metal.
What else can I do with my people?[f]
    For their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows.
They speak friendly words to their neighbors
    while scheming in their heart to kill them.
Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
    “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?”

10 I will weep for the mountains
    and wail for the wilderness pastures.
For they are desolate and empty of life;
    the lowing of cattle is heard no more;
    the birds and wild animals have all fled.

11 “I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,” says the Lord.
    “It will be a place haunted by jackals.
The towns of Judah will be ghost towns,
    with no one living in them.”

12 Who is wise enough to understand all this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it to others? Why has the land been so ruined that no one dares to travel through it?

13 The Lord replies, “This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said. 14 Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them. 15 So now, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard of, and even there I will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely.”

Weeping in Jerusalem

17 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Consider all this, and call for the mourners.
    Send for the women who mourn at funerals.
18 Quick! Begin your weeping!
    Let the tears flow from your eyes.
19 Hear the people of Jerusalem[g] crying in despair,
    ‘We are ruined! We are completely humiliated!
We must leave our land,
    because our homes have been torn down.’”

20 Listen, you women, to the words of the Lord;
    open your ears to what he has to say.
Teach your daughters to wail;
    teach one another how to lament.
21 For death has crept in through our windows
    and has entered our mansions.
It has killed off the flower of our youth:
    Children no longer play in the streets,
    and young men no longer gather in the squares.

22 This is what the Lord says:
“Bodies will be scattered across the fields like clumps of manure,
    like bundles of grain after the harvest.
    No one will be left to bury them.”

23 This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
    or the powerful boast in their power,
    or the rich boast in their riches.
24 But those who wish to boast
    should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
    who demonstrates unfailing love
    and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

25 “A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit— 26 the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places,[h] and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”

Footnotes

  1. 7:15 Hebrew of Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. 8:7 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
  3. 8:19 Hebrew Zion?
  4. 9:1 Verse 9:1 is numbered 8:23 in Hebrew text.
  5. 9:2 Verses 9:2-26 are numbered 9:1-25 in Hebrew text.
  6. 9:7 Hebrew with the daughter of my people? Greek version reads with the evil daughter of my people?
  7. 9:19 Hebrew Zion.
  8. 9:26 Or in the desert and clip the corners of their hair.

False Religion Worthless

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Stand(A) at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:

“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways(B) and your actions, and I will let you live(C) in this place. Do not trust(D) in deceptive(E) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change(F) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,(G) if you do not oppress(H) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood(I) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods(J) to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land(K) I gave your ancestors(L) for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting(M) in deceptive(N) words that are worthless.

“‘Will you steal(O) and murder,(P) commit adultery(Q) and perjury,[a](R) burn incense to Baal(S) and follow other gods(T) you have not known, 10 and then come and stand(U) before me in this house,(V) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?(W) 11 Has this house,(X) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers(Y) to you? But I have been watching!(Z) declares the Lord.

12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh(AA) where I first made a dwelling(AB) for my Name,(AC) and see what I did(AD) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke(AE) to you again and again,(AF) but you did not listen;(AG) I called(AH) you, but you did not answer.(AI) 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh(AJ) I will now do to the house that bears my Name,(AK) the temple(AL) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I will thrust you from my presence,(AM) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’(AN)

16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea(AO) or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen(AP) to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven.(AQ) They pour out drink offerings(AR) to other gods to arouse(AS) my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking?(AT) declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?(AU)

20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign(AV) Lord says: My anger(AW) and my wrath will be poured(AX) out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.(AY)

21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices(AZ) and eat(BA) the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands(BB) about burnt offerings and sacrifices,(BC) 23 but I gave them this command:(BD) Obey(BE) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.(BF) Walk in obedience to all(BG) I command you, that it may go well(BH) with you. 24 But they did not listen(BI) or pay attention;(BJ) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.(BK) They went backward(BL) and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again(BM) I sent you my servants(BN) the prophets.(BO) 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention.(BP) They were stiff-necked(BQ) and did more evil than their ancestors.’(BR)

27 “When you tell(BS) them all this, they will not listen(BT) to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.(BU) 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.(BV) Truth(BW) has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

29 “‘Cut off(BX) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament(BY) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned(BZ) this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil(CA) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols(CB) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled(CC) it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth(CD) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom(CE) to burn their sons and daughters(CF) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.(CG) 32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter,(CH) for they will bury(CI) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses(CJ) of this people will become food(CK) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.(CL) 34 I will bring an end to the sounds(CM) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom(CN) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,(CO) for the land will become desolate.(CP)

“‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones(CQ) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed(CR) from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served(CS) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.(CT) They will not be gathered up or buried,(CU) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(CV) Wherever I banish them,(CW) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,(CX) declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?(CY)
    When someone turns away,(CZ) do they not return?
Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;(DA)
    they refuse to return.(DB)
I have listened(DC) attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent(DD) of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course(DE)
    like a horse charging into battle.
Even the stork in the sky
    knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
    observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know(DF)
    the requirements of the Lord.

“‘How can you say, “We are wise,
    for we have the law(DG) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?
The wise(DH) will be put to shame;
    they will be dismayed(DI) and trapped.(DJ)
Since they have rejected the word(DK) of the Lord,
    what kind of wisdom(DL) do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men
    and their fields to new owners.(DM)
From the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain;(DN)
prophets(DO) and priests alike,
    all practice deceit.(DP)
11 They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
    when there is no peace.(DQ)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame(DR) at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when they are punished,(DS)
says the Lord.(DT)

13 “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
    There will be no grapes on the vine.(DU)
There will be no figs(DV) on the tree,
    and their leaves will wither.(DW)
What I have given them
    will be taken(DX) from them.[b]’”

14 Why are we sitting here?
    Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities(DY)
    and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and given us poisoned water(DZ) to drink,
    because we have sinned(EA) against him.
15 We hoped for peace(EB)
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.(EC)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses(ED)
    is heard from Dan;(EE)
at the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land trembles.(EF)
They have come to devour(EG)
    the land and everything in it,
    the city and all who live there.

17 “See, I will send venomous snakes(EH) among you,
    vipers that cannot be charmed,(EI)
    and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.

18 You who are my Comforter[c] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint(EJ) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:(EK)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King(EL) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused(EM) my anger with their images,
    with their worthless(EN) foreign idols?”(EO)

20 “The harvest is past,
    the summer has ended,
    and we are not saved.”

21 Since my people are crushed,(EP) I am crushed;
    I mourn,(EQ) and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(ER)
    Is there no physician(ES) there?
Why then is there no healing(ET)
    for the wound of my people?

[d]Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!(EU)
I would weep(EV) day and night
    for the slain of my people.(EW)
Oh, that I had in the desert(EX)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(EY)
    a crowd of unfaithful(EZ) people.

“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;(FA)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[e] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge(FB) me,”
declares the Lord.
“Beware of your friends;(FC)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.(FD)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[f](FE)
    and every friend a slanderer.(FF)
Friend deceives friend,(FG)
    and no one speaks the truth.(FH)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(FI)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
You[g] live in the midst of deception;(FJ)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine(FK) and test(FL) them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
Their tongue(FM) is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,(FN)
    but in their hearts they set traps(FO) for them.(FP)
Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(FQ) myself
    on such a nation as this?”

10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.(FR)
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds(FS) have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap(FT) of ruins,
    a haunt of jackals;(FU)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah(FV)
    so no one can live there.”(FW)

12 Who is wise(FX) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.(FY) 14 Instead, they have followed(FZ) the stubbornness of their hearts;(GA) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food(GB) and drink poisoned water.(GC) 16 I will scatter them among nations(GD) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,(GE) and I will pursue them with the sword(GF) until I have made an end of them.”(GG)

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(GH) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.(GI)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined(GJ) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.(GK)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.(GL)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows(GM)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men(GN) from the public squares.

22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
    like dung(GO) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
    with no one to gather them.’”

23 This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom(GP)
    or the strong boast of their strength(GQ)
    or the rich boast of their riches,(GR)
24 but let the one who boasts boast(GS) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know(GT) me,
that I am the Lord,(GU) who exercises kindness,(GV)
    justice and righteousness(GW) on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh(GX) 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[h](GY) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,(GZ) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.(HA)

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 7:9 Or and swear by false gods
  2. Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
  3. Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  4. Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.
  5. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
  6. Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
  7. Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)
  8. Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads