Jeremiah 9:6

They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. ¹  They refuse to pay attention to me,” ²  says the Lord.

You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the LORD.

"Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD.

They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to come to me," says the LORD.

They pile wrong upon wrong, stack lie upon lie, and refuse to know me." GOD's Decree.

There is wrong on wrong, deceit on deceit; they have given up the knowledge of me, says the Lord.

Oppression upon oppression, deceit upon deceit! They refuse to know me, says the LORD.

Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," says the LORD.

They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. ¹  They refuse to pay attention to me,” ²  says the Lord.

¹ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

² tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.