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Jewish Publication Society Bible: Jeremiah 9

Book of ChroniclesHebrew Bible TranslationJewish Publication Society Bible

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This is a passage from the biblical book of Jeremiah (chapter 9), a prophetic text in the Hebrew scriptural tradition combining lament, divine oracle, and warning. The prophet expresses anguish over the pervasive moral corruption of his people — deception, false speech, betrayal of neighbors, and abandonment of God — to the point of wishing to flee into the wilderness to escape them. God pronounces judgment for these failures, declaring that the land will be laid waste, Jerusalem reduced to rubble, and the people scattered among foreign nations, fed "wormwood" and "water of gall." A distinctive theological claim closes the passage: true glory belongs not to the wise, mighty, or wealthy, but to whoever knows God as one who practices mercy, justice, and righteousness. The passage ends with a sharp inward turn — condemning not merely the uncircumcised nations but Israel itself as "uncircumcised in the heart," making ritual identity worthless without genuine moral and spiritual faithfulness. The tone shifts fluidly between first-person divine speech, prophetic lament, and communal mourning ritual, giving the text a layered, emotionally intense quality characteristic of Jeremiah.

Jewish Publication Society Bible: Jeremiah 9

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