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,
When that happens, 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 taken 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.
They will lie exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the stars which they loved, which they served, which they followed, which they consulted, and which they worshiped. Their bones will not be collected or reburied, but will be left like manure 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.
Those who are left of this evil family will prefer to die rather than live in every place I've scattered them, declares the Lord Almighty.
4 Therefore shalt thou say unto them—Thus, saith Yahweh, Will men fall and not arise? Will one turn away, and not come back?
Tell them this is what the Lord says: When people fall down, don't they get up again? When people go the wrong way, don't they turn around?
5 Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem apostatized with an enduring apostacy, —Taken fast hold of deceit, Refused to come back?
So why have these people of Jerusalem gone the wrong way? Why do they refuse to turn around from their repeated betrayals, holding on to all their lies?
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've heard exactly what they said, but they don't tell the truth. No one is sorry for doing wrong, asking, “What have I done?” Everyone chooses their own way, 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 storks high in the sky know when it's time to migrate. Turtledoves, swifts, and songbirds know when to fly away at the right time of the year. But my people don't know the laws 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 on earth can you say, “We're wise, and we have the Law of the Lord?” Can't you see that the writings of your teachers of the Law have turned it into lies?
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 shown to be foolish; they will be shocked at being caught out. Can't you see that they've rejected what the Lord says—so do they have any wisdom at all?
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.
I'm going to give their wives to others, and their fields to different owners, since everyone cheats because they're greedy, poor and rich alike. Even prophets and priests—they are all dishonest liars!
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 give my wounded people first aid, but they don't really care about them. They tell them, “Don't worry! We have peace!” even as war approaches.
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 disgusting things they did? No, they're not ashamed at all, they can't even blush. So they will fall just like the others, when I punish them; they will drop down dead, 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'm going to destroy them, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes left on the vines, no figs on the trees—even the leaves will wither. They will lose whatever I gave 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.
The people say, “Why are we sitting around here? Let's get together and run to the fortified towns. We can die there, for the Lord our God is killing us by giving us poisoned water to drink, because we sinned against him.
15 A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, —For a time of healing, but lo! terror.
We hoped for peace, but instead nothing good has come; we hoped for a time of healing, but instead there was only sudden 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 can be heard from Dan. The whole country shakes in fear at the sound of the neighing of these strong stallions, They have come to destroy the country and everything in it; Jerusalem and everyone who lives there.
17 For behold me! sending among you serpents—vipers which there is no charming, —And they shall fatally bite you declareth Yahweh.
Watch out! I'm sending snakes among you, vipers that can't be charmed. They will come and bite you, declares the Lord.
18 When I would have cheered myself against sorrow, Against me, mine own heart sickened: —
Nothing comforts me in my suffering; I feel terrible inside.
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 my people crying out for help from a distant land, asking “Isn't the Lord present in Zion anymore? Has her King left?” Why have they made me angry, worshiping their carved images and their useless foreign idols?
20 The harvest is passed, The fruit-gathering, is ended; And we are not saved!
“The harvest is over, the summer is finished, but we're not saved,” say the people.
21 For the grievous injury of the daughter of my people, I am grievously injured, —I am enshrouded in gloom, Horror, hath seized me: —
I'm crushed by the injuries suffered by my people; I mourn for them. I'm horrified at what's happened!
22 Balsam, is there none, in Gilead? Is there no physician, there? Why hath not appeared the healing of the daughter of my people?
Isn't there any ointment from Gilead to help heal them? Aren't there any doctors there? So why haven't my people been healed from their wounds?
