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Be on your guard, everyone against his neighbor;
    put no trust in any brother.
Every brother imitates Jacob, the supplanter,[a]
    every neighbor is guilty of slander.
Each one deceives the other,
    no one speaks the truth.
They have accustomed their tongues to lying,
    they are perverse and cannot repent.(A)
Violence upon violence,
    deceit upon deceit:
They refuse to know me—
    oracle of the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:3 Jacob, the supplanter: in Hebrew, a play on words. In the popular etymology given in Gn 25:26, the name Jacob means “he supplants,” for he deprived his brother Esau of his birthright (cf. Gn 25:33).

“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;(A)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge(B) me,”
declares the Lord.
“Beware of your friends;(C)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.(D)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[b](E)
    and every friend a slanderer.(F)
Friend deceives friend,(G)
    and no one speaks the truth.(H)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(I)
    they weary themselves with sinning.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
  2. Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob