Jeremiah 8
1 At that time, Declareth Yahweh, Shall they bring forth, The bones of the kings of Judah, 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,
“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.
2 And shall spread them out—To the sun, and To the moon, and To all the host of the heavens, Whom they have loved, And whom they have served, And after whom they have walked, And whom they have sought, And to whom they have bowed themselves down, —They shall not be gathered, Neither shall they be buried, As heaps of dung on the face of the ground, shall they be.
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.
3 Then shall, death, be chosen rather than life, by all the remnant of them that remain, of this wicked family, —in all the places, whither I have driven them, Declareth Yahweh of hosts.
And wherever I have banished them, the remnant of this evil family will choose death over life,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
4 Therefore shalt thou say unto them—Thus, saith Yahweh, Will men fall and not arise? Will one turn away, and not come back?
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?
5 Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem apostatized with an enduring apostacy, —Taken fast hold of deceit, Refused to come back?
Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard—Not aright, did they speak, —Not a man, repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done! They have every one, turned to their course again, Like a horse sweeping on through the battle.
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.
7 Even the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times, And the turtle and the swallow and the crane, observe the season for coming; But my people know not the just sentence of Yahweh.
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.
8 How can ye say, Wise, are, we, And the law of Yahweh, is with us? But indeed lo! falsely, hath dealt the false pen of the scribes!
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?
9 Ashamed are the wise, dismayed and captured! Lo! the word of Yahweh, have they rejected, And, what wisdom, have, they?
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?
10 Therefore, will I give—Their wives to others, Their fields to such as shall take possession of them, For from the least, even unto the greatest, Every one, is, wholly given to extortion: From the prophet even unto the priest, Every one, dealeth, falsely.
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.
11 And so they have healed the grievous wound of the daughter of my people, slightly, —Saying, Peace! peace! when there was no peace!
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 Were they led to turn pale because an abominable thing, they had done? Nay! they did not, at all turn pale Nay! they did not so much as know how to exhibit shame! Therefore, shall they fall among them who are falling, In the time when they are punished, shall they be overthrown, Saith Yahweh:
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, surely remove, them, declareth Yahweh: There shall be no grapes on the vine Nor figs on the fig-tree, Even the leaf, hath faded, Though I have given them these things, they shall pass away from them.
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.”
14 Why are, we, sitting still? Gather yourselves together and let us enter the defenced cities And let us be silent there, —For, Yahweh our God, hath put us to silence And made us drink poisoned water, Because we have sinned against Yahweh.
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.
15 A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, —For a time of healing, but lo! terror.
We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
16 From Dan, was heard the snorting of his horses At the sound of the neighing of his chargers, the whole land trembled, —Yea they came in and did sat up The land and the fulness thereof, The city, and them who were dwelling therein.
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.
17 For behold me! sending among you serpents—vipers which there is no charming, —And they shall fatally bite you declareth Yahweh.
“For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,”
18 When I would have cheered myself against sorrow, Against me, mine own heart sickened: —
My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.
19 Lo! the voice of the cry for help of the daughter of my people from a land far away, Is, Yahweh, not in Zion? Is, her King, not within her? Why, have they provoked me with their carved images, with their foreign vanities?
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?”
20 The harvest is passed, The fruit-gathering, is ended; And we are not saved!
“The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.”
21 For the grievous injury of the daughter of my people, I am grievously injured, —I am enshrouded in gloom, Horror, hath seized me: —
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
22 Balsam, is there none, in Gilead? Is there no physician, there? Why hath not appeared the healing of the daughter of my people?
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
