Year of the Bible
Jeremiah 9
Access your family's weekly resource for the Year of the Bible HERE
Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 9:
God’s lament that closed Chapter 8 continues at the start of Chapter 9. He desires a place for His people where they can be safe, and He speaks of a refining process that will test the people to see if they will return to the covenant. Despite God’s good intentions, the people’s sin is so deeply ingrained in their lives that they will not change their path. Because of this repeated rejection, God will allow them to experience shame and lament themselves. Although God is patient and offers love, He will take action against those who take advantage of His graciousness. This applies to the uncircumcised pagan nations but also to the Israelites who may be circumcised externally but who remain uncircumcised in their stubborn hearts (see vs. 4:4) and prefer the world’s glory to God’s.
The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 9:
1 O 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 O that I had in the desert
a wayfarers’ lodging place, that I might leave my people
and go away from them! For they are all adulterers,
a company of treacherous men.
3 They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, says the Lord.
4 Let every one beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother;
for every brother is a supplanter,
and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
5 Every one deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they commit iniquity and are too weary to repent.
6 Heaping oppression upon
oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
they refuse to know me, says the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, I will refine 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 peaceably to his neighbor,
but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord;
and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
10“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 birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a lair of jackals;
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 which 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 gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them poisonous water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I 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 tears,
and our eyelids gush 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 children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak, “Thus says 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 glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; 24 but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.”
25 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised but yet uncircumcised— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert that cut the corners of their hair; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
In verses 23-24 of Jeremiah we read: Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.” Lord, show me what lies deep in my heart. Do I glory in my wisdom, my might and my riches or is my heart docile to the Holy Spirit so I am able to understand and know you?
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan, an adult faith formation apostolate. Catholic Biblical School of Michigan (cbsmich.org/join).
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further
Jeremías 9
1 ¡Ojalá encontrara en el desierto una
posada de caminantes, para abandonar
a mi pueblo y alejarme de ellos,
pues todos son unos adúlteros,
una banda de traidores.
2«Tensan su lengua como un arco:
la mentira, en vez de la verdad,
predomina en el país.
Van de mal en peor,
y me desconocen
–oráculo del Señor–.
3Que cada uno se guarde de su prójimo,
y desconfíe hasta de su hermano,
pues cualquier hermano hace trampas,
y cualquier amigo anda calumniando.
4Los amigos se defraudan
y no dicen la verdad,
han adiestrado su lengua en decir
mentiras,
obran el mal, son incapaces
5de convertirse: fraude y más fraude,
embuste y más embuste,
se niegan a conocerme»
–oráculo del Señor–.
6Por eso, esto dice el Señor de los
ejércitos:
«Yo mismo voy a acrisolarlos y a
examinarlos,
pues ¿qué voy a hacer con la hija de
mi pueblo?
7Su lengua es flecha infestada,
las palabras en su boca, un embuste:
“Paz” dice a su prójimo,
pero por dentro le tiende insidias.
8¿No he de pedirles cuenta de esto?
–oráculo del Señor–.
De una gente como ésta
¿no he de vengarme?».
9Por los montes elevaré llantos y lamentos,
cantos de duelo por los pastizales
del desierto,
porque están abrasados, sin que nadie
transite;
desde las aves del cielo hasta las bestias
huyeron, se marcharon.
10«Yo haré de Jerusalén un montón
de escombros,
una guarida de chacales,
y convertiré las ciudades de Judá en
desolación,
sin habitantes».
11¿Quién es tan sabio para discernir
esto,
y a quien habla la boca del Señor
para anunciarlo?
¿Por qué pereció el país,
y ha sido abrasado como un desierto,
sin nadie que lo transite?
12 Y respondió el Señor:
–Porque abandonaron la Ley que les
había entregado, y no escucharon mi
voz, y no se condujeron por ella, 13 sino
que con su corazón obstinado, marcharon
tras los baales, que sus padres les
enseñaron. 14 Por eso, esto dice el Señor
de los ejércitos, Dios de Israel: «Yo daré
a comer ajenjo a este pueblo, y les haré
beber agua envenenada. 15 Los dispersaré
entre naciones desconocidas de ellos
y de sus padres, y enviaré la espada tras
ellos, hasta acabarlos».
16Esto dice el Señor de los ejércitos:
«Reflexionad y llamad a las plañideras
para que vengan,
haced que vengan las más hábiles,
17que se den prisa
y eleven lamentaciones por nosotros,
para que nuestros ojos viertan lágrimas,
y manen agua nuestros párpados.
18Que de Sión se oye voz de lamento:
“¡Qué arruinados estamos,
qué tremendamente avergonzados!
Hemos de abandonar el país,
pues han destruido nuestras casas”.
19Escuchad, pues, mujeres, la palabra
del Señor,
que vuestros oídos perciban la palabra
de su boca.
Enseñad lamentaciones a vuestras
hijas,
y unas a otras cantos de duelo.
20Pues la muerte ha subido por vuestras
ventanas,
ha entrado en nuestros palacios,
para aniquilar a los niños en la calle,
a los jóvenes en las plazas.
21Habla. Así es el oráculo del Señor:
«Los cadáveres de los hombres son
echados
como estiércol sobre la superficie
del campo,
como gavillas tras el segador,
que nadie recoge».
22Esto dice el Señor:
«No se jacte el sabio de su sabiduría,
ni se jacte el fuerte de su fuerza,
ni se jacte el rico de su riqueza,
23quien quiera jactarse que se jacte
de esto:
de tener inteligencia y conocerme,
que Yo soy el Señor,
que hago misericordia,
juicio y justicia en la tierra,
porque en esto me complazco»
–oráculo del Señor–.
24 Mirad que vienen días –oráculo
del Señor– en que tomaré cuentas a
todo circunciso sólo de prepucio: 25 a
Egipto, a Judá, a Edom, a los hijos de
Amón y a Moab, y a todos los de sienes
rapadas, moradores del desierto,
porque todas esas gentes, como toda la
casa de Israel, son incircuncisos de corazón».
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
En los versículos 34-24 de Jeremías, leemos: Así dice el Señor: “No dejes que se glorifique el sabio en su sabiduría, no dejes que se glorifique el valiente en su poder, ni que se glorifique el rico en sus riquezas; pero deja al que se glorifique que se glofirique en esto, que me comprende y me conoce, que yo soy el Señor, que practico la misericordia, la justicia y la rectitud en la tierra; porque en estas cosas me deleito, dice el Señor ”. Señor, muéstrame lo que hay en lo profundo de mi corazón, ¿me glorifico en mi sabiduría, mi poder y mis riquezas, o es mi corazón dócil al Espíritu Santo para poder comprenderte y conocerte?
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).