1 1 Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of ftears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 2 Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all gadulterers,
a company of treacherous men.
3 They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong3 in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4 Let everyone hbeware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor goes about as a islanderer.
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, I will jrefine them and test them,
for what else can I do, because of my people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
9 kShall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the lbirds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a mheap of ruins,
a lair of njackals,
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have ogone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 pTherefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. 16 I will qscatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and rI will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18 let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,
that our eyes may run down with stears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21 For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
cutting off the tchildren from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but ulet him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who vcut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are wuncircumcised in heart.”
Paul’s Longing to See Them Again
17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to dsee you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our ehope or fjoy or crown of gboasting before our Lord Jesus at his hcoming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, iwe were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and jwe sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker1 in the gospel of Christ, to kestablish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that lwe are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, mjust as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the ntempter had tempted you and our labor would be oin vain.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But pnow that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and qlove and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers,2 in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are rstanding fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly snight and day that we may tsee you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, udirect our way to you, 12 and may the Lord vmake you increase and abound in love wfor one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that xhe may yestablish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the zcoming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
