Jeremiah 9:1-26 | The Way of Scripture

Jeremiah 9:1-26

What does knowing the Lord mean amid a society of deceit and approaching death?

Berean Standard Bible

1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people. 2 If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people. 3 “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD. 4 “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. 5 Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity. 6 You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD. 7 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people? 8 Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him. 9 Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?” 10 I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away. 11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” 12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it? 13 And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice. 14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.” 17 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. 18 Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water. 19 For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’” 20 Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament. 21 For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares. 22 Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.” 23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. 24 But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth— for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. 25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

What is the context?

The desire for endless tears over the slain is joined with the desire to escape treachery. The opening holds grief for the people and revulsion at their conduct together.

Lying tongues become bows and deadly arrows. Neighbors speak peace while preparing traps, and the Lord names this deception as refusal to know Him.

The refining, burned pastures, ruined city, bitter food, and scattering make the consequences communal. The cause named is abandonment of the Law and following the Baals, not a lack of skill in predicting danger.

The summons to skilled wailing women and the teaching of daughters make mourning spread through the community. Death entering windows and streets reaches children and young people as well as private households.

The final instruction changes the grounds for boasting. Wisdom, strength, and wealth cannot provide the security or worth that knowledge of the Lord supplies.

That knowledge concerns the Lord who practices loving devotion, justice, and righteousness on earth. It is not merely possessing information about God while participating in deceit.

The closing list places Judah among other nations facing judgment and distinguishes outward circumcision from the heart. Religious identity is not an exemption from accountability.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley explains knowing God through trusting and depending on Him, and connects the public evils with the failure of that knowledge. He reads the severe sword language in light of the book’s retained remnant. The judgment is grave without implying that every Israelite and every later descendant will be destroyed.

Where does this fit in God's plan?

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 directly draws on Jeremiah 9:23–24 in telling believers to boast in the Lord. Paul grounds their wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption in Christ rather than status or achievement. The connection preserves Jeremiah’s challenge while making the Christian ground for boasting explicit.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

No deeper study linked yet.

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