“‘Beware of your neighbors!
Put no trust in any of your relatives!
All your relatives are liars.
Every neighbor goes around
Like a slanderer.
They all deceive their neighbors.
No one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues
To speak lies.
They commit iniquity.
They are too weary to repent.
Oppression upon oppression!
Deceit upon deceit!
They refuse to know me.’
Says Yahweh.”
Jeremiah has another oracle of Yahweh about watching out for your neighbors and their deceitfulness. Not only are they to be aware of their neighbors, but also their own relatives and next of kin. They were not to trust them because they were liars, hoping to take their place. Neighbors are going around slandering them. No one was speaking the truth because they all had taught their tongues to lie. When they did something wrong, they were too weary to repent. Thus there was oppression piled on oppression, deceit after deceit. They all refused to know Yahweh.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 