If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,(A)
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,(B)
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.(C)

They bent their tongues like their bows;
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take me into account.(D)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Imminent Ruin and Exile

Everyone has to be on guard against his friend.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,(E)
and every friend spread slander.(F)
Each one betrays his friend;(G)
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
You live in a world of deception.[a](H)
In their deception they refuse to know me.(I)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:6 LXX reads Oppression on oppression, deceit on deceit

Oh, that I had in the desert(A)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(B)
    a crowd of unfaithful(C) people.

“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;(D)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge(E) me,”
declares the Lord.
“Beware of your friends;(F)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.(G)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[b](H)
    and every friend a slanderer.(I)
Friend deceives friend,(J)
    and no one speaks the truth.(K)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(L)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
You[c] live in the midst of deception;(M)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
  2. Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
  3. Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)

Their tongues are deadly arrows—
they speak deception.(A)
With his mouth
one speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.

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Their tongue(A) is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,(B)
    but in their hearts they set traps(C) for them.(D)

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The Lord’s Second Lament

13 Woe to them,(A) for they fled from me;(B)
destruction to them, for they rebelled against me!
Though I want to redeem them,(C)
they speak lies against me.

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13 Woe(A) to them,
    because they have strayed(B) from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me(C) falsely.(D)

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Judgment on Judah

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah(A)
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord(B)
and have not kept his statutes.(C)
The lies(D) that their ancestors followed(E)
have led them astray.

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This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Judah,(A)
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law(B) of the Lord
    and have not kept his decrees,(C)
because they have been led astray(D) by false gods,[a](E)
    the gods[b] their ancestors followed,(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 2:4 Or by lies
  2. Amos 2:4 Or lies