October 23, 2025

1 I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.

2 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert where I could get away from my people. They are all unfaithful, a mob of traitors.

3 They are always ready to tell lies; dishonesty instead of truth rules the land.

The Lord says,

“My people do one evil thing after another and do not acknowledge me as their God.”

4 Everyone must be on guard against their friends, and no one can trust their relatives; for all relatives are as deceitful as Jacob, and everyone slanders their friends.

5-6 They all mislead their friends, and no one tells the truth; they have taught their tongues to lie and will not give up their sinning. They do one violent thing after another, and one deceitful act follows another.

The Lord says that his people reject him.

7 Because of this the Lord Almighty says, “I will refine my people like metal and put them to the test. My people have done evil— what else can I do with them?

8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows; they always tell lies. Everyone speaks friendly words to their neighbors, but they are really setting a trap for them.

9 Will I not punish them for these things? Will I not take revenge on a nation like this? I, the Lord, have spoken.”

10 I said, “I will mourn for the mountains and weep for the pastures, because they have dried up, and no one travels through them. The sound of livestock is no longer heard; birds and wild animals have fled and gone.”

11 The Lord says, “I will make Jerusalem a pile of ruins, a place where jackals live; the cities of Judah will become a desert, a place where no one lives.”

12 I asked, “Lord, why is the land devastated and dry as a desert, so that no one travels through it? Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom have you explained it so that they can tell others?”

13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because my people have abandoned the teaching that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them. 14 Instead, they have been stubborn and have worshiped the idols of Baal as their ancestors taught them to do. 15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, will do: I will give my people bitter plants to eat and poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have heard about, and I will send armies against them until I have completely destroyed them.”

It could be said that Jeremiah was at his wits end when it came to the people of Israel. He talks about escaping the place that he is in, fleeing from his people. He is devastated by their behavior, their lack of morals and lack of compassion for each other.

God is equally devastated and is grieving because the people are worshiping false gods and focusing on evil rather than good. Since they are focusing on those things they can’t truly know Him. Their sins run rampant, and they fall further and further away from God. God’s plan is to “refine my people like metal and put them to the test. My people have done evil—what else can I do with them?” All this happens because the people of Israel have abandoned the teachings of God and have instead chosen to rely on themselves. “You shall have no other God before me,” and “Love your neighbors as yourself” seem to be the common threads of this passage.

Kris Ward

kris5124@icloud.com

Prayer: Dear God, help us to follow you and only you. Amen