August 3, 2026, Jeremiah 9:12-26

August 3, 2026, Jeremiah 9:12-26

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 that 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 bitter food, 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 flow 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 declares 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 boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

²⁵ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— ²⁶ Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Jeremiah 9:12-26 contrasts the devastating reality of God’s judgement with a powerful call to true wisdom, shifting focus from a ruined land to the only secure foundation for human life. 

●     Verses 13-18 note that ruin came because the people followed the "stubbornness of their hearts.”  How can you recognize when your own desires are leading you away from God’s guidance, and how do you practice turning back?

●     Verse 24 states that God delights in kindness, justice, and righteousness.  How can you intentionally mirror these specific traits in your workplace, family or community?

 Robin Adams