Jeremiah 9:11

Good News Translation

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."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble,a jackals’ den.I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,an uninhabited place.

Hebrew Names Version
I will make Yerushalayim heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Yehudah a desolation, without inhabitant.

King James Version
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

English Standard Version
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

New American Standard Bible
"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant."

New Century Version
"I, the Lord , will make the city of Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a home for wild dogs. I will destroy the cities of Judah so no one can live there."

Amplified Bible
"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt and dwelling place of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

World English Bible
I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And I wil make Ierusalem an heape, and a den of dragons, & I will make the cities of Iudah waste, without an inhabitant.

Legacy Standard Bible
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,A haunt of jackals;And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

Berean Standard Bible
"And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

Contemporary English Version
I heard the Lord reply, "When I am finished, Jerusalem and the towns of Judah will be piles of ruins where only jackals live."

Complete Jewish Bible
Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken, so that he can proclaim it? Why has the land perished and been laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

Darby Translation
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord says, "I will make the city of Jerusalem a pile of garbage. It will be a home for jackals. I will destroy the cities in the land of Judah, so no one will live there."

George Lamsa Translation
And I will make Jerusalem heaps and a den of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate without an inhabitant.

Lexham English Bible
And I will make Jerusalem as heaps of ruins, a lair of jackals, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation, without inhabitants.

Literal Translation
And I will make Jerusalem ruins, a den of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I will make Ierusalem also an heape of stones, and a denne of venymous wormes. And I wil make the cities of Iuda so waist, that no man shal dwell therin.

American Standard Version
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Bible in Basic English
And I will make Jerusalem a mass of broken stones, the living-place of jackals; and I will make the towns of Judah a waste, with no man living there.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it? Wherefore is the land perished and laid waste like a wilderness, so that none passeth through?

King James Version (1611)
And I will make Ierusalem heapes, and a denne of dragons, and I wil make the cities of Iudah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I wyl make Hierusalem also an heape of stones, & a den of venemous wormes: and I wyll make the cities of Iuda so waste, that no man shall dwel therin.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I will remove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and make it a dwelling-place of dragons; and I will utterly waste the cities of Juda, so that they shall not be inhabited.

English Revised Version
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y schal yyue Jerusalem in to heepis of grauel, and in to dennes of dragouns; and Y schal yyue the citees of Juda in to desolacioun, for ther is no dwellere.

Update Bible Version
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, [and] a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

New English Translation
The Lord said, "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. I will destroy the towns of Judah so that no one will be able to live in them."

New King James Version
"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant."

New Living Translation
"I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins," says the Lord . "It will be a place haunted by jackals. The towns of Judah will be ghost towns, with no one living in them."

New Life Bible
I will break down Jerusalem into pieces, a place where wild dogs live. And I will lay waste the cities of Judah. No people will live there."

New Revised Standard
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals; and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thus will I give up Jerusalem To heaps, A habitation for jackals, - And the cities of Judah, will I give up to desolation, without inhabitant.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will make Jerusalem to be heaps of sand, and dens of dragons: and I will make the cities of Juda desolate, for want of an inhabitant.

Revised Standard Version
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

Young's Literal Translation
And I make Jerusalem become heaps, A habitation of dragons, And the cities of Judah I make a desolation, Without inhabitant.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

Contextual Overview

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. ⁵They 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."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jerusalem: Jeremiah 26:18, Jeremiah 51:37, Nehemiah 4:2, Psalms 79:1, Isaiah 25:2, Micah 1:6, Micah 3:12

a den: Jeremiah 10:22, Isaiah 13:22, Isaiah 34:13, Revelation 18:2

the cities: Jeremiah 34:22, Isaiah 44:26, Lamentations 2:2, Lamentations 2:7, Lamentations 2:8

desolate: Heb. desolation, Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:18, Lamentations 3:47, Micah 6:16

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:31 - And I will make Leviticus 26:32 - And I Deuteronomy 28:16 - in the city Joshua 8:28 - an heap Job 15:28 - which are ready Psalms 137:3 - wasted us Isaiah 24:12 - General Jeremiah 1:15 - and against Jeremiah 2:15 - his cities Jeremiah 4:7 - to Jeremiah 6:8 - lest I Jeremiah 7:20 - Behold Jeremiah 12:11 - made it Jeremiah 18:16 - make Jeremiah 22:6 - surely Jeremiah 44:2 - a desolation Jeremiah 49:33 - a dwelling Lamentations 1:1 - sit Lamentations 1:4 - all her gates Lamentations 3:11 - he hath made Lamentations 5:18 - the foxes Ezekiel 6:6 - the cities Ezekiel 12:19 - that her Ezekiel 33:28 - I will lay Zephaniah 1:13 - their goods Zephaniah 1:18 - but Malachi 1:3 - the

Cross-References

Genesis 9:21
After he drank some of the wine, he became drunk, took off his clothes, and lay naked in his tent.

Genesis 9:22
When Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked, he went out and told his two brothers.

Genesis 9:23
Then Shem and Japheth took a robe and held it behind them on their shoulders. They walked backward into the tent and covered their father, keeping their faces turned away so as not to see him naked.

Isaiah 54:9
"In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.

2 Peter 3:7
But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

2 Peter 3:11
Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I will make Jerusalem heaps,.... That is, the walls and houses of it shall be thrown down, and become heaps of stones and rubbish:

and a den of dragons; only inhabited by wild beasts:

and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without inhabitant; so that the calamity would be universal; not only Jerusalem, but all the cities of the land, would be destroyed, forsaken, and uninhabited.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The punishment described in general terms in the preceding three verses is now detailed at great length.

Jeremiah 9:10

The habitations i. e - the temporary encampments of the shepherds (see Jeremiah 6:3).

So that none can ... - Or, “They are parched up, with no man to pass through them; neither do they hear the voice of cattle; from the birds of the heaven even to the beasts they “are fled, they are gone.”

Jeremiah 9:11

Dragons - Rather, jackals.

Jeremiah 9:12

For what the land perisheth ... - This is the question proposed for consideration. The prophet calls upon the wise man to explain his question; that question being, Wherefore did the land perish? He follows it by the assertion of a fact: “It is parched like the wilderness with no man to pass through.”

Jeremiah 9:13

The cause of the chastisement about to fall upon Jerusalem, was their desertion of the divine Law.

Jeremiah 9:14

Imagination - Or, as in the margin.

Which their fathers taught them - It was not the sin of one generation that brought upon them chastisement: it was a sin, which had been handed down from father to son.

Jeremiah 9:15

I will feed them ... - Rather, I am feeding them. The present participle used here, followed by three verbs in the future, shows that the judgment has beam, of which the successive stages are given in the next clause.

Wormwood - See Deuteronomy 29:18, note, and for “water of gall,” Jeremiah 8:14, note.

Jeremiah 9:16

This verse is taken from Leviticus 26:33. The fulfillment of what had been so long before appointed as the penalty for the violation of Yahweh’s covenant is one of the most remarkable proofs that prophecy was something more than human foresight.

Till I have consumed them - See Jeremiah 4:27 note. How is this “consuming” consistent with the promise to the contrary there given? Because it is limited by the terms of Jeremiah 9:7. Previously to Nebuchadnezzars destruction of Jerusalem God removed into safety those in whom the nation should revive.

Jeremiah 9:17

The mourning women - Hired to attend at funerals, and by their skilled wailings aid the real mourners in giving vent to their grief. Hence, they are called “cunning,” literally “wise” women, wisdom being constantly used in Scripture for anything in which people are trained.

Jeremiah 9:18

Take up a wailing for us - i. e., for the nation once God’s chosen people, but long spiritually dead.

Jeremiah 9:19

Forsaken - Or, left: forced to abandon the land.

Because our dwellings ... - Rather, “because they have east down our dwellings.” The whole verse is a description of their sufferings. See 2 Kings 25:1-12.

Jeremiah 9:20

The command is addressed to the women because it was more especially their part to express the general feelings of the nation. See 1 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 1:24. The women utter now the death-wail over the perishing nation. They are to teach their daughters and neighbors the “lamentation, i. e., dirge,” because the harvest of death would be so large that the number of trained women would not suffice.

Jeremiah 9:21

Death is come up ... - i. e., death steals silently like a thief upon his victims, and makes such havoc that there are no children left to go “without,” nor young men to frequent the open spaces in the city.

Jeremiah 9:22

The “handful” means the little bundle of grain which the reaper gathers on his arm with three or four strokes of his sickle, and then lays down. Behind the reaper came one whose business it was to gather several of these bundles, and bind them into a sheaf. Thus, death strews the ground with corpses as thickly as these handfuls lie upon the reaped land, but the corpses lie there unheeded.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 9:11. A den of dragons — תנים tannim is supposed to mean here jackals; the chakal is a beast frequent in the east, an attendant on the lion, the refuse of whose prey he devours. It is an animal that seems to have been bred originally between the wolf and the dog. The original is sometimes interpreted, dragons, whales, &c.