Contemplative Bible Reading

Jeremiah 9:9-11 (New International Version)

⁹ Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the LORD.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰ I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds of the air have fled
and the animals are gone.

¹¹ “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”

The Lord is speaking to His people through the prophet Jeremiah. Jerusalem and its people are to be punished. Jerusalem would be a heap of ruins, a waste, no one can live there, and a haunt of jackals.

What in the world is a haunt of jackals? In the New International Version, this phrase is used four times in Jeremiah, twice in Isaiah, and once in Psalms. Still, what is it?

Jackals are not the king of the jungle or a majestic beast or any of that. They are often thought of as scavengers, but that is not true. Still, people think of them that way. But a haunt of jackals. Sometimes haunt is used for “stamping ground” or “hangout.”

I suppose that if Jerusalem was to be a haunt of jackals it would be desolate of people. There would be nothing worthy of people – something like that. It sounds like a bad place, something that God’s people would not like to become of their homes.