Jeremiah 9:3

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ¹ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ² 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ³ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁴ 

and do not pay attention to me. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 9:5

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ⁶  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

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¹ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

² tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

³ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

⁴ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

⁵ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

⁶ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.