Jeremiah 9 5

Jeremiah 9:5 kjv

And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

Jeremiah 9:5 nkjv

Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity.

Jeremiah 9:5 niv

Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.

Jeremiah 9:5 esv

Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.

Jeremiah 9:5 nlt

They all fool and defraud each other;
no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
they wear themselves out with all their sinning.

Jeremiah 9 verses

Jeremiah 9 5 Meaning

Jeremiah 9:5 powerfully portrays the pervasive moral decay of Judah, emphasizing a culture where dishonesty and deceit have become ingrained. The verse describes people actively engaged in deceiving their neighbors, deliberately refraining from truth, and dedicating themselves to the art of lying. Their commitment to wrongdoing is so profound that they expend exhausting effort to perpetrate iniquity, highlighting a society where evil is not accidental but intentionally cultivated and tirelessly pursued.

Jeremiah 9 5 Context

Jeremiah 9:5 is situated within Jeremiah's lament and indictment of the people of Judah, delivered during a period preceding the final Babylonian exile (late 7th to early 6th century BCE). Chapters 8 and 9 intensely describe the moral corruption and spiritual apostasy prevalent in Judah, which necessitated God's severe judgment. Immediately preceding this verse, Jeremiah expresses profound sorrow over his people's deceitful nature (Jer 9:1-4), noting that "every brother will utterly supplant" (Jer 9:4). The broader context reveals that Judah had largely rejected God's covenant, embraced idolatry, and dismissed Jeremiah's prophetic warnings. Their internal strife and dishonesty mirrored their unfaithfulness to God, culminating in a society built on falsehood. The verse also implicitly critiques the false prophets and leaders who, in contrast to Jeremiah, spoke deceptive messages of "peace" when destruction was imminent, thereby exacerbating the people's sinful complacency. This systemic breakdown of truth and justice in their society was a direct contravention of the Mosaic Law, which emphasized integrity, truth, and neighborly love.

Jeremiah 9 5 Word analysis

• They: Refers collectively to the people of Judah, specifically highlighting their widespread and pervasive engagement in the following negative behaviors. It indicates a societal rather than isolated problem.

• deceive (Heb. yakhzîvû from kazav - כָּזַב): To lie, to be false, to disappoint, to deceive. It denotes an active and deliberate act of presenting something untrue as truth, or breaking a promise. This verb often carries connotations of treachery or falsehood that undermines trust, particularly relevant in a covenantal context where faithfulness (emet) is paramount.

• every one his neighbour (Heb. 'îsh 'et-rē'ēhû - אִישׁ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ): Literally, "a man his companion" or "his friend." This emphasizes the breakdown of fundamental interpersonal relationships and trust within the community. It's not external enemies but those closest to them who are victims of their deceit, revealing a deeply corrupted social fabric.

• and speak not the truth (Heb. we'ěmet lo' yedabbērû - וֶאֱמֶת לֹא יְדַבֵּרוּ): Here, emet (אֱמֶת) signifies truth, faithfulness, and reliability. This phrase states a direct and active absence of truth from their speech. It implies a conscious choice to avoid or suppress truth, highlighting an intentional departure from what is morally upright and covenantally expected.

• they have taught (Heb. limmedû from lamad - לָמַד): To learn, to teach, to train. This powerful verb indicates that lying and deception are not accidental acts but a cultivated skill. It's a deliberate and sustained effort, demonstrating that falsehood has become a learned and ingrained habit, almost an art form they have mastered.

• their tongue (Heb. leshonām - לְשׁוֹנָם): The physical organ of speech, used here metonymically for their spoken words, communication, and rhetoric. It signifies the primary instrument through which their cultivated deceit is executed.

• to speak lies (Heb. dabber-sheqer - דַּבֶּר־שֶׁקֶר): Sheqer (שֶׁקֶר) means falsehood, lie, deceit, fraud. This specifies the content of their taught speech: outright falsehoods. It reiterates the quality of their communication, emphasizing deliberate misrepresentation and untruth.

• and weary themselves (Heb. nel'û from la'ah - לָאָה): To be weary, to be faint, to be tired, to exhaust oneself. This is a crucial element, suggesting immense and sustained effort, diligent exertion. Paradoxically, the people put great, even fatiguing, energy into committing evil, reflecting their fervent dedication to their sinful ways rather than to righteousness.

• to commit iniquity (Heb. hāʿāwōn - הָעֲוֺן): Avon (עָוֹן) refers to iniquity, guilt, moral perversity, sin. It broadly covers any twisting or distortion of God's moral law. The act of "committing" (implied in the phrase with the verb la'ah leading to the outcome of avon) underscores that their weariness is dedicated specifically to actualizing this moral perversity and incurring guilt.

• Words-group by words-group analysis:

  • "They deceive every one his neighbour, and speak not the truth": This segment establishes the societal prevalence of deceit and the active rejection of truth in interpersonal relations. It describes a community devoid of trust where falsehood is a common currency.
  • "they have taught their tongue to speak lies": This highlights the deliberate and disciplined cultivation of untruthfulness. It’s not just occasional sin, but an acquired proficiency in deception, making lying a skill mastered through practice. This deep-seated habit implies an intentional departure from honesty.
  • "and weary themselves to commit iniquity": This emphasizes the zealous and laborious effort applied to sin. It's a striking image: instead of laboring for good or for God, they exhaust themselves in perpetuating evil and committing moral wrongs, indicating a profound dedication to sin.

Jeremiah 9 5 Bonus section

The active "teaching" of the tongue to speak lies strongly contrasts with biblical commands for instruction in righteousness (Deut 6:7, Prov 22:6). Here, the very faculty meant for praise and communication of truth has been systematically perverted for deceit. This concept of the tongue as a potent tool, here turned to evil, prefigures the New Testament warnings against its untamed power (Jas 3:8). The Hebrew words kazav (deceive) and sheqer (lies) both underscore aspects of deliberate falsehood and treachery. This widespread "faithfulness" to lies effectively makes them "anti-covenant" people, antithetical to the character of God who cannot lie (Tit 1:2). Their diligent exertion for iniquity is a tragic inversion of zeal for God; they have, in effect, shown zeal for rebellion. This deeply rooted spiritual blindness and commitment to sin ultimately prevented them from "knowing the Lord," as indicated in the subsequent verses (Jer 9:6, 9:24).

Jeremiah 9 5 Commentary

Jeremiah 9:5 provides a poignant and devastating portrait of a people utterly corrupted from within. The progression of their moral decline is central to the verse: from simple acts of deceiving neighbors and failing to speak truth, they advance to deliberately training their very means of communication – their tongues – to master falsehood. This is not passive sin but an active, cultivated, and deeply ingrained practice. The chilling final phrase, "and weary themselves to commit iniquity," reveals an alarming zeal for wrongdoing. It underscores a paradox: while true righteousness often requires discipline and effort, these people dedicate prodigious energy, to the point of exhaustion, not to God's will but to moral perversity. This strenuous exertion in evil serves as a profound justification for God's impending judgment, as their sin is not incidental but intentional, pervasive, and fundamental to their character and society. The verse is a powerful call to examine where our energies are truly spent – whether in truth and righteousness, or in cultivating and performing unholy acts.