"Who {is} the wise man, that may understand this? and {who is he} to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may …" — Jeremiah 9:12

Jeremiah 9:12 · KJV

“Who {is} the wise man, that may understand this? and {who is he} to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth {and} is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?”

— Jeremiah 9:12

Verse 11

And I will make Jerusalem heaps, {and} a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. {desolate: Heb. desolation}

Verse 13

And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

Jeremiah 9 — Context

For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through {them}; neither can {men} hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. {habitations: or, pastures} {burned up: or, desolate} {both...: Heb. from the fowl even to, etc}

And I will make Jerusalem heaps, {and} a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. {desolate: Heb. desolation}

Who {is} the wise man, that may understand this? and {who is he} to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth {and} is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: {imagination: or, stubbornness}

Cross References

Hosea 14:9

Who {is} wise, and he shall understand these {things}? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD {are} right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Psalms 107:43

Whoso {is} wise, and will observe these {things}, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Deuteronomy 32:29

O that they were wise, {that} they understood this, {that} they would consider their latter end!

Psalms 107:34

A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. {barrenness: Heb. saltiness}

Ezekiel 14:23

And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

Jeremiah 16:10-13

And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what {is} our iniquity? or what {is} our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

Jeremiah 22:8-9

And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

Jeremiah 5:19-20

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these {things} unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land {that is} not yours.