Jeremiah 9:5
in Jeremiah 9Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
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.
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This verse in Jeremiah 9
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Gregory the DialogistThe Book of Pastoral Rule, Part III, Chapter XI · Written before 604.
The insincere are to be admonished to learn how heavy is the labor of deception. They endure it with guilt. They are afraid of being found out. They are ever seeking dishonest defenses. They are agitated by fearful suspicions. But there is nothing safer to defend than sincerity, nothing easier to say than truth. For, when obliged to defend its deceit, the heart is wearied with hard labor. For it is written, "The labor of their own lips shall cover them."
This site's exposition
Let everyone guard against his neighbor
on Jeremiah 9:4-6
Deceit has reached the family, for “every brother deals craftily”, and the Hebrew verb echoes the name Jacob, which Genesis 27:36 ties to his cheating. The unit closes with the plainest charge, “You dwell in the midst of deception”, so deceit is the place where Judah lives.
This site's exposition
they wear themselves out committing iniquity
Gregory writes that deceit is heavy labour: the liar fears being found out, hunts for defences and lives on suspicion. Truth is easy to tell. Clarke calls iniquity a drudgery that wears out the one committing it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Everyone is so inflamed by the love of sin and desire to carry out what they like, that they look out with watchful care for an opportunity to commit wickedness. They are afraid of being too slow to enjoy their lusts, even glorying in their shame and the great number of their crimes, as the apostle says in censure. They seek credit for themselves out of their own confusion. The prophet Jeremiah also maintains that they commit their heinous crimes not only willingly and with ease of heart and body but with laborious efforts to such an extent that they come to toil to carry them out. They are even impeded from their deadly quest of sin by the burdensome effort the actualizing of their evil desires requires, as he says: "They have labored to do wickedly."
(Verse 4 and following) Let each person guard themselves from their neighbor, and let them not have trust in any brother, for every brother will deceive and every friend will act deceitfully; and a man will mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies (or their tongue has learned to speak lies), in order to act wickedly, they have labored (or acted unjustly) and have not ceased from turning away.
What are we to do with such a useful member? From it we pray to God, we confess our sins, we give praise, we sing to God with one voice in harmony, and in our daily lives, we either show mercy when we converse with others, or we give counsel. What are we to do now? Our very tongue offers you service. What are we to do so that we do not sin with our tongue? Especially since it has been said: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," and again it has been said: "I have seen many fall by the edge of the sword, but not as many as by the tongue." Again it has been said: "The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. Consider how a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." Again the same Lord said: "They have taught their tongue to speak lies." Oh, they have taught it! For habit causes it to speak lies; even if you do not wish to, it speaks lies. Just as if you turn a wheel once, having pushed it with your hand, it runs because of its shape and roundness and by its own unstable and almost natural course, so too does our tongue; it does not need to be taught to speak lies. For already, once started, it runs by itself to what it can more easily move toward. Sometimes you have something in your heart, and it speaks something else out of habit.
"For every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. And a man shall mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth, for they have bent their tongue like a bow for lies and not for truth." But often a pretended patience excites to anger more keenly than words, and a spiteful silence exceeds the most awful insults in words. The wounds of enemies are more easily borne than the deceitful blandishment of mockers, as is well said by the prophet.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they will deceive everyone his neighbour,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
And weary themselves to commit iniquity - O, what a drudgery is sin! and how much labor must a man take in order to get to hell! The tenth part of it, in working together with God, would bring him to the gate of glory.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
weary themselves--are at laborious pains to act perversely [MAURER]. Sin is a hard bondage (Hab 2:13).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֤ישׁ | veish | and each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בְּרֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ | bereehu | <in> neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| יְהָתֵ֔לּוּ | yehatelu | they deceive | H2048 → | |
| וֶאֱמֶ֖ת | veemet | and truth | H571 → | 127 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְדַבֵּ֑רוּ | yedaberu | they speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| לִמְּד֧וּ | limedu | they have taught | H3925 → | 85 times |
| לְשׁוֹנָ֛ם | leshonam | tongue their | H3956 → | 117 times |
| דַּבֶּר־ | daber- | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| שֶׁ֖קֶר | sheker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| הַעֲוֵ֥ה | haaveh | to iniquire | H5753 → | |
| נִלְאֽוּ׃ | nilu | they are weary | H3811 → | 19 times |
וְאִ֤ישׁand each
veishH376 →1663 times
בְּרֵעֵ֙הוּ֙<in> neighbor his
bereehuH7453 →188 times
יְהָתֵ֔לּוּthey deceive
yehateluH2048 →
וֶאֱמֶ֖תand truth
veemetH571 →127 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יְדַבֵּ֑רוּthey speak
yedaberuH1696 →1141 times
לִמְּד֧וּthey have taught
limeduH3925 →85 times
לְשׁוֹנָ֛םtongue their
leshonamH3956 →117 times
דַּבֶּר־to speak
daber-H1696 →1141 times
שֶׁ֖קֶרfalsehood
shekerH8267 →113 times
הַעֲוֵ֥הto iniquire
haavehH5753 →
נִלְאֽוּ׃they are weary
niluH3811 →19 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Habakkuk 2:13Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:58
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will…
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Isaiah 50:11
Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My…
- Jeremiah 51:58
Through
Job 15:5For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:3–5
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 9:3–5
Through
Micah 6:12For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Hosea 7:13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.
- Jeremiah 9:8
Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
- Isaiah 1:23
Through
Isaiah 57:10You are wearied by your many journeys, but you did not say, “There is no hope!” You found renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:25
You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
- Jeremiah 2:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 16A.2; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part III, Chapter XI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 3:23.1; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 2:16.18; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).