Jeremiah 8

1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.

At that time, says the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Juda, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;

2 They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.

and they shall spread them out to the sun, and the moon, and to all the stars, and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and to which they have held, and which they have worshipped; they shall not be mourned for, neither shall they be buried; but they shall be for an example on the face of the earth,

3 And wherever I have banished them, the remnant of this evil family will choose death over life,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

because they chose death rather than life, even to all the remnant that are left of that family, in every place whither I shall drive them out.

4 So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return?

For thus says the Lord, Shall not he that falls arise? or he that turns away, shall he not turn back again?

5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.

Therefore has this my people turned away with a shameless revolting, and strengthened themselves in their willfulness, and refused to return?

6 I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.

Listen, I pray you, and hear: will they not speak thus, There is no man that repents of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? the runner has failed from his course, as a tired horse in his neighing.

7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.

Yes, the stork in the heaven knows her time, [also] the turtle-dove and wild swallow; the sparrows observe the times of their coming in; but this my people knows not the judgments of the Lord.

8 How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?

How will you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? In vain have the scribes used a false pen.

9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?

The wise men are ashamed, and alarmed, and taken; because they have rejected the word of the Lord; what wisdom is there in them?

10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to [new] inheritors; and they shall gather their fruits, says the Lord.

11 They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.

12 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.

13 I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”

There are no grapes on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig-trees, and the leaves have fallen off.

14 Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the strong cities, and let us be cast out there: for God has cast us out, and made us drink water of gall, because we have sinned before him.

15 We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.

We assembled for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, but behold anxiety.

16 The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who dwell in it.

We shall hear the neighing of his swift horses out of Dan: the whole land quaked at the sound of the neighing of his horses; and he shall come, and devour the land and the fullness of it; the city, and them that dwell in it.

17 “For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,”

For, behold, I send forth against you deadly serpents, which can’t be charmed, and they shall bite you

18 My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.

mortally with the pain of your distressed heart.

19 Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?”

Behold, [there is] a sound of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land afar off: Is not the Lord in Sion? is there not a king there? because they have provoked me with their graven [images], and with strange vanities.

20 “The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.”

The summer is gone, the harvest is past, and we are not saved.

21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.

For the breach of the daughter of my people I have been saddened: in my perplexity pangs have seized upon me as of a woman in travail.

22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

And is there no balm in Galaad, or is there no physician there? why has not the healing of the daughter of my people taken place?