FocusWarning, intercession, and refusal
Connection to the wholeOracles and enacted signs expose covenant unfaithfulness and the coming judgment, including the warning about Babylon.
interpretation Jeremiah 9:7
KJVTherefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
Read it in context
A Lament over Zion
Start reading at Jeremiah 9:1 (Jeremiah 9:1 to Jeremiah 9:26).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
Oracles and enacted signs expose covenant unfaithfulness and the coming judgment, including the warning about Babylon.
- 9:1 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- 9:2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
- 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
- 9:4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
- 9:5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
- 9:6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
- 9:7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
- 9:8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
- 9:9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
- 9:10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
- 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
- 9:12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
- 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
- 9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
- 9:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
- 9:16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
- 9:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
- 9:18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
- 9:19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
- 9:20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
- 9:21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
- 9:22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
- 9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
- 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
- 9:25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
- 9:26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Who
- Who wrote the book? Jeremiah son of Hilkiah is the prophet behind the book, with Baruch serving as his scribe. The complete collection includes narrative and a historical appendix as well as Jeremiah's dictated words. Biblical references: Jeremiah 1:1; Jeremiah 36:4; Jeremiah 36:32. stated in the text
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Jeremiah 7:1–10:25): Worshippers entering the temple, Judah's people, and those trusting deceptive assurances are addressed through Jeremiah's proclamation and warning. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Judah and Jerusalem before and during the Babylonian crisis, exiles in Babylon, and later readers of the preserved prophetic collection. Individual oracles name additional recipients. Biblical references: Jeremiah 2:2; Jeremiah 29:1; Jeremiah 46:1. stated in the text
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? A Lament over Zion. Read Jeremiah 9:1 through Jeremiah 9:26 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? Oracles and enacted signs expose covenant unfaithfulness and the coming judgment, including the warning about Babylon. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The opening dates Jeremiah's ministry from Josiah's reign toward the captivity of Jerusalem. Individual messages also name particular reigns and events, and the book is not arranged as a simple diary. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Judah and Jerusalem dominate, with messages to exiles in Babylon, accounts involving Egypt, and oracles concerning other nations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in A Lament over Zion (Jeremiah 9:1 to Jeremiah 9:26). Start reading at Jeremiah 9:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? Hebrews explicitly quotes Jeremiah's new-covenant promise in its explanation of Christ's priestly work. The quotation retains the named houses of Israel and Judah; later application should account for that wording. See Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:10. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Listen to unwelcome truth and distinguish it from reassuring claims unsupported by God's word. Do not detach promises of restoration from the judgment, exile, and response described around them. interpretation
Cited: Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 9:26, Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:10
Who wrote it, and how we know
Jeremiah, with Baruch as scribe
Named in Scripture
What Scripture saysThe book names Jeremiah and records that Baruch wrote at his dictation.
Jeremiah 1:1Jeremiah 36:4Jeremiah 36:32
Early traditionTradition names Jeremiah with Baruch as scribe.
What is debatedThe closing chapter parallels 2 Kings and appears to be added.
Related passages
- I will Jer 6:29-30 Isa 1:25 Isa 48:10 Ezek 22:18-22 Ezek 26:11-12 Zech 13:9 Mal 3:3 1 Pet 1:7
- shall Jer 31:20 2 Chr 36:15 Hos 6:4-5 Hos 11:8-9 Zech 1:14-16
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah records words associated with his prophetic ministry and accounts surrounding Judah's fall. The book is not arranged as one continuous dated diary. Read each oracle's audience, occasion, and conditions rather than assigning every promise to every reader. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Jeremiah 1:1 Jeremiah 1:2 Jeremiah 36:4
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Jeremiah
Jeremiah records words associated with his prophetic ministry and accounts surrounding Judah's fall. The book is not arranged as one continuous dated diary. Read each oracle's audience, occasion, and conditions rather than assigning every promise to every reader.
Jeremiah 1:1 Jeremiah 1:2 Jeremiah 36:4
Jeremiah's call
Jeremiah 1:1–19FocusCommission and opposition
Connection to the wholeThe call establishes the prophet's task and the opposition he will face in delivering the LORD's words.
interpretation FocusWarning, intercession, and refusal
Connection to the wholeOracles and enacted signs expose covenant unfaithfulness and the coming judgment, including the warning about Babylon.
interpretation The prophet contested
Jeremiah 26:1–29:32FocusTrue and false messages
Connection to the wholeNarratives and letters contrast competing claims about the LORD's word and address life under Babylonian power, including the exiles' situation.
interpretation Promises of restoration
Jeremiah 30:1–33:26FocusReturn, covenant, and hope
Connection to the wholeWords of restoration appear amid announced judgment, including the new covenant promise; their wording and named audience must remain visible.
interpretation Jerusalem's fall and its aftermath
Jeremiah 34:1–45:5FocusRejected words and continuing disobedience
Connection to the wholeThe accounts follow conflicts around the prophetic word, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the choices of survivors, with a word to Baruch.
interpretation Oracles against the nations
Jeremiah 46:1–51:64FocusJudgment on the surrounding powers
Connection to the wholeThe collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon.
interpretation The fall of Jerusalem recounted
Jeremiah 52:1–34FocusDestruction and the exiled king
Connection to the wholeThe historical appendix recounts the disaster and closes with Jehoiachin's release, placing the preceding messages beside their historical aftermath.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.