If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered.
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- KJV Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- BSB Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- NKJV Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
- NASB Oh, that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For those slain of the daughter of my people!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jeremiah wishes his head were a spring of water so he could weep endlessly for his slain people. His grief over their destruction is overwhelming.
Overview
The prophet longs for an inexhaustible flow of tears to mourn day and night over those who will fall. This intense lament reveals a pastor's heart pierced by his people's coming death. Jeremiah's tears model godly sorrow over sin's consequences and anticipate the Savior who wept over Jerusalem, longing to gather and save His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 13:17But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yahweh’s flock is taken captive.
- Isa 22:4Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Lam 2:11My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
- Jer 8:21–22For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on me.
- Jer 6:26Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us.
- Isa 16:9Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.
- Ps 119:136Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don’t observe your law. TZADI
- Jer 14:17“You shall say this word to them, “‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
- Ezek 21:6–7“Sigh therefore, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness.
- Lam 2:18–19Their heart cried to the Lord: wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no respite; don’t let the apple of your eye cease.
- Lam 3:48–49My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Ps 42:3My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
- Jer 4:19My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can’t hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 9:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.