Jeremiah 9:20

I said, ¹  “So now, ²  you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. ³  Open your ears to the words from his mouth. Teach your daughters this mournful song, and each of you teach your neighbor ⁴  this lament.

Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament.

Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge.

Listen, you women, to the words of the LORD; open your ears to what he has to say. Teach your daughters to wail; teach one another how to lament.

Mourning women! Oh, listen to GOD's Message! Open your ears. Take in what he says. Teach your daughters songs for the dead and your friends the songs of heartbreak.

But even now, give ear to the word of the Lord, O you women; let your ears be open to the word of his mouth, training your daughters to give cries of sorrow, everyone teaching her neighbour a song of grief.

Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, and let your ears receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a dirge, and each to her neighbor a lament.

Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.

I said, ¹  “So now, ²  you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. ³  Open your ears to the words from his mouth. Teach your daughters this mournful song, and each of you teach your neighbor ⁴  this lament.

¹ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. The text merely has “Indeed, yes.” The words are supplied in the translation to indicate that the speaker is still Jeremiah though he now is not talking about the mourning woman but is talking to them. See the notes on 9:17-18 for further explanation.

² tn It is a little difficult to explain how the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here. W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:311) may be correct in seeing it as introducing the contents of what those who call for the mourning women are to say. In this case, Jeremiah picks up the task as representative of the people.

³ tn Heb “Listen to the word of the Lord.”

sn In this context the “word of the Lord” that they are to listen for is the word of the lament that they are to teach their daughters and neighbors.

⁴ tn Heb “Teach…mournful song, and each woman her neighbor lady…”