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 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 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 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 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.

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

11 And so they have healed the grievous wound of the daughter of my people, slightly, —Saying, Peace! peace! when there was 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:

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

mortally with the pain of your distressed heart.

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?

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

The summer is gone, the harvest is past, and we are not 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 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 Balsam, is there none, in Gilead? Is there no physician, there? Why hath not appeared the healing of the daughter of my people?

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?