Isaiah 16:9

16:9 So I weep along with Jazer ¹ 

over the vines of Sibmah.

I will saturate you ²  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly

over your fruit and crops. ³ 

Isaiah 21:3

21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; ⁴ 

cramps overwhelm me

like the contractions of a woman in labor.

I am disturbed ⁵  by what I hear,

horrified by what I see.

Isaiah 22:4

22:4 So I say:

“Don’t look at me! ⁶ 

I am weeping bitterly.

Don’t try ⁷  to console me

concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 4:19

4:19 I said, ⁹ 

“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ¹⁰ 

I writhe in anguish.

Oh, the pain in my heart! ¹¹ 

My heart pounds within me.

I cannot keep silent.

For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ¹² 

the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ¹³ 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ¹⁴  I wish that my head were a well full of water ¹⁵ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ¹⁶  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 9:10

The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning

9:10 I said, ¹⁷ 

“I will weep and mourn ¹⁸  for the grasslands on the mountains, ¹⁹ 

I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness

because they are so scorched no one travels through them.

The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.

Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields

have fled and are gone.”

Jeremiah 9:19

9:19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.

They will wail, ²⁰  ‘We are utterly ruined! ²¹  We are completely disgraced!

For our houses have been torn down

and we must leave our land.’” ²² 

Jeremiah 48:36-39

48:36 So my heart moans for Moab

like a flute playing a funeral song.

Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song,

my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres.

For the wealth they have gained will perish.

48:37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning.

They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow.

They will all make gashes in their hands.

They will all put on sackcloth. ²³ 

48:38 On all the housetops in Moab

and in all its public squares

there will be nothing but mourning.

For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁴ 

48:39 Oh, how shattered Moab will be!

Oh, how her people will wail!

Oh, how she will turn away ²⁵  in shame!

Moab will become an object of ridicule,

a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”

[16:9]  ¹ tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).

[16:9]  ² tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).

[16:9]  ³ tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”

[21:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”

[21:3]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”

[22:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “look away from me” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[22:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “don’t hurry” (so NCV).

[22:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the daughter of my people.” “Daughter” is here used metaphorically to express the speaker’s emotional attachment to his people, as well as their vulnerability and weakness.

[4:19]  ⁹ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the Lord’s promise of judgment to Jeremiah’s lament concerning it.

[4:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”

[4:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”

[4:19]  ¹² tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[4:19]  ¹³ tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).

[9:1]  ¹⁴ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:10]  ¹⁷ tn The words “I said” are not in the text, but there is general agreement that Jeremiah is the speaker. Cf. the lament in 8:18-9:1. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some English versions follow the Greek text which reads a plural imperative here. Since this reading would make the transition between 9:10 and 9:11 easier it is probably not original but a translator’s way of smoothing over a difficulty.

[9:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will lift up weeping and mourning.”

[9:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for the mountains.” However, the context makes clear that it is the grasslands or pastures on the mountains that are meant. The words “for the grasslands” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:19]  ²⁰ tn The words “They will wail” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to make clear that this is the wailing that will be heard.

[9:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “How we are ruined!”

[9:19]  ²² tn The order of these two lines has been reversed for English stylistic reasons. The text reads in Hebrew “because we have left our land because they have thrown down our dwellings.” The two clauses offer parallel reasons for the cries “How ruined we are! [How] we are greatly disgraced!” But the first line must contain a prophetic perfect (because the lament comes from Jerusalem) and the second a perfect referring to a destruction that is itself future. This seems the only way to render the verse that would not be misleading.

[48:37]  ²³ tn Heb “upon every loin [there is] sackcloth.” The word “all” is restored here before “loin” with a number of Hebrew mss and a number of versions. The words “in mourning” and “to show their sorrow” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to give the average reader some idea of the significance of these acts.

[48:38]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[48:39]  ²⁵ tn Heb “turn her back.”