Jeremiah 9:17-22
When a nation persists in rebellion against God, mourning replaces celebration as judgment unfolds.
17 Yahweh of Armies says, “Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come. Send for the skillful women, that they may come.
18 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.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ”
20 Yet hear Yahweh’s word, you women. Let your ear receive the word of his mouth. Teach your daughters wailing. Everyone teach her neighbor a lamentation.
21 For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the streets.
22 Speak, “Yahweh says, “ ‘The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester. No one will gather them.’ ”
When a nation persists in rebellion against God, mourning replaces celebration as judgment unfolds.
To summon the community to mourn the coming devastation of Judah as the LORD announces the widespread death and destruction that will overtake the land because of covenant rebellion.
After explaining the cause of Judah’s coming judgment in Jeremiah 9:12–16, the prophet now calls the nation to mourn the destruction that is approaching.
Jeremiah announces the coming destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, describing the grief that will follow the national catastrophe.
Let the One Who Boasts Boast in Knowing the LORD
Judah's falsehood, stubbornness, and uncircumcised heart bring devastating judgment, but the LORD reveals that true life is found in knowing him as the God who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness.