Jeremiah 8
1 In that tyme, seith the Lord, thei schulen caste out the boonys of the kingis of Juda, and the boonys of princes therof, and the boonys of prestis, and the boonys of profetis, and the boonys of hem that dwelliden in Jerusalem fro her sepulcris;
Yahweh says, “At the time [that your corpses are scattered on the ground], [your enemies will] break open the graves of your kings and [other] officials who lived in Judah, and the graves of your priests and prophets and other people who lived there.
2 and thei schulen leie abrood tho boonys to the sunne, and moone, and to al the knyythod of heuene, which thei louyden, and which thei seruyden, and aftir whiche thei yeden, and whiche thei souyten, and worschipiden; tho schulen not be gaderid, and schulen not be biried; tho schulen be in to a dunghil on the face of erthe.
They will take out their bones [from their graves] and [dishonor them by] scattering them on the ground under the sun and the moon and the stars— those are the gods which my people loved and served and worshiped. No one will gather up their bones and bury them [again]; they will remain scattered on the ground like dung.
3 And alle men schulen cheese deth more than lijf, whiche ben left of this worst kynrede, in alle places that ben left, to whiche places Y castide hem out, seith the Lord of oostis.
And all the people of this wicked nation [who are still alive and] whom I have exiled to other countries will say, ‘We would prefer to die than to continue to stay alive [here in these countries].’ [That will be true because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
4 And thou schalt seie to hem, The Lord seith these thingis, Whether he that schal falle, schal not rise ayen? and whether he that is turned awei, schal not turne ayen?
[Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah], tell the people that this is what [I], Yahweh, am saying to them: ‘When people fall down, they get up again, do they not [RHQ]? When people are going along a road and find out that they are walking on the wrong road, they go back [and find the correct road], do they not [RHQ]?
5 Whi therfor is this puple in Jerusalem turned awei bi turnyng awei ful of strijf? Thei han take leesyng, and nolden turne ayen.
[Yes, they do], so why do these people [of Judah] continue [trusting in those idols that have deceived them]? They continue turning away from me, [even though I have warned them].
6 Y perseyuede, and herknede; no man spekith that that is good, noon is that doith penaunce for his synne, and seith, What haue Y do? Alle ben turnede togidere to her cours, as an hors goynge bi fersnesse to batel.
I have listened carefully [DOU] [to what they say], but they do not say what they should say. Not one of them is sorry for having sinned. No one says, “I have done [RHQ] wicked things.” They are [sinning and] doing what they want to as fast as [SIM] a horse that is running into a battle.
7 A kite in the eir knew his tyme; a turtle, and a swalewe, and a siconye, kepten the tyme of her comyng; but my puple knew not the doom of the Lord.
All the birds [that fly south for the (winter/cold season)] know the time that they need to fly south, and they all return at the right time the following year. But my people [are not like those birds]! They do not know what [I], Yahweh, require them to do.
8 Hou seien ye, We ben wise men, and the lawe of the Lord is with vs? Verili the fals writyng of scribis wrouyte leesyng.
Your men who teach you [the laws that Moses wrote] have been saying false things [about those laws]. [So], why [RHQ] do they [continue] saying, “We are [very] wise [because] we have the laws of Yahweh”?
9 Wise men ben schent, ben maad aferd and takun. For thei castiden awei the word of the Lord, and no wisdom is in hem.
Those teachers, who think that [IRO] they are wise, will be ashamed/disgraced and dismayed when they are taken [to other countries by their enemies] because they sinned by rejecting what I told them. Truly, they were not [RHQ] very wise to do that!
10 Therfor Y schal yyue the wymmen of hem to straungeris, and the feeldis of hem to alien eiris; for fro the leeste `til to the mooste alle suen aueryce, fro a profete `til to the preest alle maken leesyng;
So, I will give their wives to other men; I will give their fields to [the enemy soldiers] who conquer them. All the people, including those who are important and those who are not important, deceive [others] in order to obtain their possessions. Even [my] prophets and my priests do that.
11 and thei heeliden the sorowe of the douytir of my puple to schenschipe, seiynge, Pees, pees, whanne no pees was.
[They act as though the sins of my people] are not serious, [like] [MET] wounds that do not need to be cleaned and bandaged. They tell the people that everything will go well with them, [but that is not true]; things will not go well with them.
12 Thei ben schent, for thei diden abhomynacioun; yhe, rather thei weren not schent bi schenschipe, and kouden not be aschamed. Therfor thei schulen falle among falleris, in the tyme of her visitacioun thei schulen falle, seith the Lord.
They should be [RHQ] ashamed when they do disgusting things [RHQ], but they do not even know how to show on their faces that they are ashamed [about their sins]. So, [they will be killed, and] their corpses [also] will lie among the corpses of others who have been slaughtered [by their enemies]. They will be killed when I punish them.
13 I gaderynge schal gadere hem, seith the Lord; no grape is in the vynes, and figis ben not in the fige tre; a leef felle doun, and Y yaf to hem tho thingis that ben go out ouer.
I will [allow their enemies to] take away the figs and grapes that the people would have harvested from their fields. Their fruit trees will all wither. They will not receive [all] the blessings that I prepared for them. [This will certainly happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.’”
14 Whi sitten we? come ye togidere, entre we in to a strong citee, and be we stille there; for oure Lord hath maad vs to be stille, and yaf to vs drynk the watir of galle; for we han synned to the Lord.
[Then the people will say], “(Why should we wait here [in these small towns]?/We should not wait here [in these small towns].) [RHQ]! We should go to the cities that have high walls around them, [but even if we do that] we will be killed there, because Yahweh our God has decided that we must be destroyed; [it is as though] [MET] he has given us a cup of poison to drink, because we sinned against him.
15 We abididen pees, and no good was; we abididen tyme of medicyn, and lo! drede is.
We hoped/desired that things would go well for us, but things have not gone well. We hoped that bad things would not happen to us any more, but only things that terrify us [are happening to us].
16 Gnastyng of horsis therof is herd fro Dan; al the lond is moued of the vois of neiyngis of hise werriours; and thei camen, and deuouriden the lond, and the plente therof, the citee, and the dwelleris therof.
People [far north in Israel] in [the city of] Dan can already hear the snorting of the horses of their enemies [who are preparing to attack us]. [It is as though] the entire land [of Judah] is shaking as their army approaches; they are coming to destroy our land and everything in it, the people and the cities.”
17 For lo! Y schal sende to you the werste serpentis, to whiche is no charmyng; and thei schulen bite you, seith the Lord.
[Yahweh says], “I will send [those enemy soldiers to Judah], and they will be like [MET] poisonous snakes among you. No one will be able to stop them from attacking you [MET]; they will attack you like snakes do, [and kill you].”
18 My sorewe is on sorewe, myn herte is mourenynge in me.
I grieve very much [for the people of Judah], and my grieving does not end. I am very sad [IDM].
19 And lo! the vois of cry of the douyter of my puple cometh fro a fer lond. Whether the Lord is not in Sion, ethir the kyng therof is not therynne? Whi therfor stiriden thei me to wrathfulnesse bi her grauun ymagis, and bi alien vanytees?
Throughout our land, the people ask, “Has Yahweh abandoned Jerusalem? Is [he], our city’s king, no longer there?” [Yahweh replies], “Why do the people cause me to become very angry by [worshiping] idols and foreign gods?” [RHQ]
20 Heruest is passid, somer is endid; and we ben not sauyd.
[The people say], “The harvest [season] is finished, the (summer/hot season) has ended, [and we hoped that we would receive blessings from Yahweh], but he has not rescued us [from our enemies].”
21 Y am turmentid, and sori on the sorewe of the douyter of my puple; astonying helde me.
I cry because my people have been crushed. I mourn, and I am completely dismayed.
22 Whether resyn is not in Galaad, ether a leche is not there? Whi therfor the wounde of the douytir of my puple is not heelid perfitli?
[I ask], “Surely there is [RHQ] medicinal balm in the Gilead [region]! Surely there are [RHQ] doctors there!” But my people have been badly wounded [in their spirits], and nothing can heal them.
