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, says the Lord, they will take the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his rulers, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem out of their resting-places:

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.

And they will put them out before the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, whose lovers and servants they have been, after whom they have gone, to whom they have made prayers, and to whom they have given worship: they will not be put together or placed in the earth; they will be waste on the face of the earth.

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 death will be desired more than life by the rest of this evil family who are still living in all the places where I have sent them away, says the Lord of armies.

4 Therefore shalt thou say unto them—Thus, saith Yahweh, Will men fall and not arise? Will one turn away, and not come back?

Further, you are to say to them, This is what the Lord has said: Will those who are falling not be lifted up again? will he who has gone away not come back?

5 Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem apostatized with an enduring apostacy, —Taken fast hold of deceit, Refused to come back?

Why do these people of Jerusalem go back, for ever turning away? they will not give up their deceit, they will not come back.

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 took note and gave ear, but no one said what is right: no man had regret for his evil-doing, saying, What have I done? everyone goes off on his way like a horse rushing to the fight.

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.

Truly, the stork in the heavens is conscious of her fixed times; the dove and the swallow and the crane keep to the times of their coming; but my people have no knowledge of the law 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 is it that you say, We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us? But see, the false pen of the scribes has made it false.

9 Ashamed are the wise, dismayed and captured! Lo! the word of Yahweh, have they rejected, And, what wisdom, have, they?

The wise men are shamed, they are overcome with fear and taken: see, they have given up the word of the Lord; and what use is their wisdom to them?

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.

So I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will take them for themselves: for everyone, from the least to the greatest, is given up to getting money; from the priest even to the prophet, everyone is false.

11 And so they have healed the grievous wound of the daughter of my people, slightly, —Saying, Peace! peace! when there was no peace!

And they have made little of the wounds of the daughter of Zion, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

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:

Let them be put to shame because they have done disgusting things. They had no shame, they were not able to become red with shame: so they will come down with those who are falling: in the time of their punishment they will be made low, 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 put an end to them completely, says the Lord: there are no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf is dry.

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 seated doing nothing? come together, and let us go to the walled towns, and let destruction overtake us there, for the Lord our God has sent destruction on us, and given us bitter water for our drink, because we have done evil against the Lord.

15 A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, —For a time of healing, but lo! terror.

We were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there is only a great fear.

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 loud breathing of the horses comes to our ears from Dan: at the sound of the outcry of his war-horses, all the land is shaking with fear; for they have come, and have made a meal of the land and everything in it; the town and the people living in it.

17 For behold me! sending among you serpents—vipers which there is no charming, —And they shall fatally bite you declareth Yahweh.

See, I will send snakes and poison-snakes among you, against which the wonder-worker has no power; and they will give you wounds which may not be made well, says the Lord.

18 When I would have cheered myself against sorrow, Against me, mine own heart sickened: —

Sorrow has come on me! my heart in me is feeble.

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?

The voice of the cry of the daughter of my people comes from a far land: Is the Lord not in Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they made me angry with their images and their strange gods which are no gods?

20 The harvest is passed, The fruit-gathering, is ended; And we are not saved!

The grain-cutting is past, the summer is ended, and no salvation has come to us.

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 destruction of the daughter of my people I am broken: I am dressed in the clothing of grief; fear has taken me in its grip.

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 life-giving oil in Gilead? is there no expert in medical arts? why then have my people not been made well?