1 I wish my head were like a spring of waterand my eyes like a fountain of tears!Then I could cry day and nightfor my people who have been killed.
2 I wish I had a place in the desert—a house where travelers spend the night—so I could leave my people.I could go away from them,because they are all unfaithful to God;they are all turning against him.
3 “They use their tongues like a bow,shooting lies from their mouths like arrows.Lies, not truth,have grown strong in the land.They go from one evil thing to another.They do not know who I am,” says the Lord.
4 “Watch out for your friends,and don’t trust your own relatives,because every relative is a cheater,and every friend tells lies about you.
5 Everyone lies to his friend,and no one speaks the truth.The people of Judah have taught their tongues to lie.They have become tired from sinning.
6 Jeremiah, you live in the middle of lies.With their lies the people refuse to know me,” says the Lord.
7 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says:“I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire.I have no other choice,because my people have sinned.