91 Oh e that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears , That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people ! 2 Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers' lodging place ; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers , An assembly of treacherous men. 3 "They bend their tongue like their bow ; Lies and not truth prevail in the land ; For they proceed from evil to evil , And they do not know Me," declares the Lord . 4 "Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor , And do not trust any brother ; Because every brother deals craftily , And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer . 5 "Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth , They have taught their tongue to speak lies ; They weary themselves committing iniquity . 6 "Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit ; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the Lord . 7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts , "Behold , I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do , because e of the daughter of My people ? 8 "Their tongue is a deadly arrow ; It speaks deceit ; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor , But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. 9 " Shall I not punish them for these things ?" declares the Lord . "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself ? 10 "For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing , And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge , Because they are laid waste so e that no one passes through , And the lowing of the cattle is not heard ; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled ; they are gone . 11 "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals ; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation , without inhabitant ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 9:1-11
Commentary on Jeremiah 9:1-11
(Read Jeremiah 9:1-11)
Jeremiah wept much, yet wished he could weep more, that he might rouse the people to a due sense of the hand of God. But even the desert, without communion with God, through Christ Jesus, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, must be a place for temptation and evil; while, with these blessings, we may live in holiness in crowded cities. The people accustomed their tongues to lies. So false were they, that a brother could not be trusted. In trading and bargaining they said any thing for their own advantage, though they knew it to be false. But God marked their sin. Where no knowledge of God is, what good can be expected? He has many ways of turning a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of those that dwell therein.