Jeremiah 9:17
New International Version
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.

New Living Translation
This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “Consider all this, and call for the mourners. Send for the women who mourn at funerals.

English Standard Version
Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come;

Berean Standard Bible
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.

King James Bible
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

New King James Version
Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD of armies says: “Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the skillful women, that they may come!

NASB 1995
Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come!

NASB 1977
Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come!

Legacy Standard Bible
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Carefully consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the skillful women, that they may come!

Amplified Bible
Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women to come; Send for the wailing women to come.

Christian Standard Bible
This is what the LORD of Armies says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women.

American Standard Version
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come:

Contemporary English Version
The LORD All-Powerful said, "Make arrangements now for the women who are paid to weep at funerals, especially the women who can cry the loudest."

English Revised Version
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the cunning women, that they may come:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is what the LORD of Armies says: Consider this: Call for the women who cry at funerals. Send for those who are the most skilled.

Good News Translation
The LORD Almighty said, "Think about what is happening! Call for the mourners to come, for the women who sing funeral songs."

International Standard Version
This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Think about what I'm saying! Indeed, call out the professional mourners! Send for the best of them to come.

Majority Standard Bible
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ?Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.

NET Bible
The LORD who rules over all told me to say to this people, "Take note of what I say. Call for the women who mourn for the dead! Summon those who are the most skilled at it!"

New Heart English Bible
Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skillful women, that they may come:"

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for skillful women, that they may come:

World English Bible
Yahweh of Armies says, “Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come. Send for the skillful women, that they may come.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Thus said YHWH of Hosts: “Consider, and call for mourning women, "" And they come, "" And send to the wise women, "" And they come,

Young's Literal Translation
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Consider ye, and call for mourning women, And they come, And to the wise women send, and they come,

Smith's Literal Translation
Thus said Jehovah of armies, Give heed, and call ye for the wailing women, and they shall come forth; and send ye to the wise women, and they shall come forth.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, and let them come: and send to them that are wise women, and let them make haste:

Catholic Public Domain Version
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Consider and call upon the women mourners, and let them approach. And send to those women who are wise, and let them hurry.

New American Bible
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Inquire, and call the wailing women to come; summon the most skilled of them.

New Revised Standard Version
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skilled women to come;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Thus says the LORD of hosts, Call for the mourning women that they may come; and send for women versed in lamentations that they may come;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Thus says LORD JEHOVAH of Hosts: “Call for the mourners, and they shall come, and send for the wise, and they shall come
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wise women, that they may come;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thus saith the Lord, Call ye the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Lament over Zion
16I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.” 17This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. 18Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.…

Cross References
Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it / and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. / For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ...

Ezekiel 7:16-18
The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity. / Every hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water. / They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.

Amos 5:16-17
Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. / There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 22:12
On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

Lamentations 2:18-19
The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your eyes no rest. / Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.

Joel 1:8-13
Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth. / Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD. / The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. ...

Micah 1:8
Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.

Revelation 18:9-11
Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. / In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” / And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—

2 Samuel 1:17-27
Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, / and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar: / “Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen! ...

2 Chronicles 35:25
Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.

Mark 5:38-39
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw the commotion and the people weeping and wailing loudly. / He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.”

John 11:33-35
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. / “Where have you put him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they answered. / Jesus wept.

James 4:9
Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

Isaiah 15:2-3
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off. / In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.


Treasury of Scripture

Thus said the LORD of hosts, Consider you, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

call.

2 Chronicles 35:25
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

Job 3:8
Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Ecclesiastes 12:5
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

the mourning women.

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Jeremiah 9
1. Jeremiah laments the people for their manifold sins;
9. and for their judgment.
12. Disobedience is the cause of their bitter calamity.
17. He exhorts to mourn for their destruction;
23. and to trust not in themselves, but in God.
25. He threatens both Jews and Gentiles.














This is what the LORD of Hosts says
The phrase "LORD of Hosts" is a translation of the Hebrew "Yahweh Sabaoth," which emphasizes God's supreme command over the heavenly armies and all creation. This title underscores His authority and power, reminding the audience of His sovereignty and the seriousness of His message. In the context of Jeremiah, it serves as a solemn introduction, indicating that the following words are not merely human counsel but divine instruction.

Consider now
The Hebrew word for "consider" is "bin," which means to understand or discern. This is a call to reflection and awareness, urging the people to pause and deeply contemplate their current situation. It is an invitation to recognize the gravity of their circumstances and the impending judgment due to their disobedience. The urgency of "now" highlights the immediacy of the need for action and introspection.

and call for the wailing women to come
"Wailing women" refers to professional mourners, a common practice in ancient Near Eastern cultures, including Israel. These women were skilled in lamentation, often hired to express grief at funerals or during times of national calamity. The call for them signifies the depth of the impending disaster, suggesting that the situation is so dire that it requires public mourning. This practice is supported by archaeological findings and historical records, which show the cultural significance of lamentation in expressing communal sorrow.

Send for the most skillful among them
The emphasis on "the most skillful" indicates the need for those who are particularly adept at expressing grief. The Hebrew word "chakam" implies wisdom or skill, suggesting that these women possess a profound ability to articulate the nation's sorrow. This highlights the severity of the judgment that is to come, as only the most capable mourners can adequately convey the depth of the lamentation required. It also serves as a metaphor for the need for genuine repentance and acknowledgment of sin, as the people are called to recognize and express their spiritual desolation.

(17) Mourning women . . . cunning women.--Eastern funerals were, and are, attended by mourners, chiefly women, hired for the purpose. Wailing was reduced to an art, and they who practised it were cunning. There are the "mourners" that "go about the streets" (Ecclesiastes 12:5), those that "are skilful of lamentation" (Amos 5:16), those that mourned for Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 22:18), those that "wept and wailed greatly" in the house of Jairus (Mark 5:38). They are summoned as to the funeral, not of a friend or neighbour, but of the nation.

Verses 17-22. - A new scene is introduced. To give an idea of the greatness of the impending blow, all the skilled mourners are sent for to raise the cry of lamentation. But no, this is not enough. So large will be the number of the dead that all the women must take their part in the doleful office. The description of the mourning women is as true to modern as to ancient life in the East. "And, indeed," says Dr. Shaw, a thoughtful traveler and an ornament of Oxford in the dark eighteenth century, "they perform their parts with such proper sounds, gestures, and commotions, that they rarely fail to work up the assembly into some extraordinary pitch of thoughtfulness and sorrow" ('Travels in Barbary and the Levant,' 2nd edit., p. 242; comp. Amos 5:16; Ecclesiastes 12:5).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
This is what
כֹּ֤ה (kōh)
Adverb
Strong's 3541: Like this, thus, here, now

the LORD
יְהוָ֣ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

of Hosts
צְבָא֔וֹת (ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)
Noun - common plural
Strong's 6635: A mass of persons, reg, organized for, war, a campaign

says:
אָמַר֙ (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Take note,
הִתְבּֽוֹנְנ֛וּ (hiṯ·bō·wn·nū)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 995: To separate mentally, understand

and summon
וְקִרְא֥וּ (wə·qir·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

the wailing women;
לַמְקוֹנְנ֖וֹת (lam·qō·wn·nō·wṯ)
Preposition-l, Article | Verb - Piel - Participle - feminine plural
Strong's 6969: To strike a, musical note, chant, wail

send
שִׁלְח֖וּ (šil·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

for
וְאֶל־ (wə·’el-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the [most] skillful [among them].
הַחֲכָמ֥וֹת (ha·ḥă·ḵā·mō·wṯ)
Article | Adjective - feminine plural
Strong's 2450: Wise


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 9:17 Thus says Yahweh of Armies Consider you (Jer.)
Jeremiah 9:16
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