Jeremiah 8
1 At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, They bring the bones of the kings of Judah, And the bones of its princes, And the bones of the priests, And the bones of the prophets, And the bones of 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 have spread them to sun, and to moon, And to all the host of the heavens, that they have loved, And that they have served, And that they have walked after, And that they have sought, And to which they have bowed themselves, They are not gathered, nor buried, They are for dung on the face of the ground.
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 And chosen is death rather than life By all the remnant who are left of this evil family, In all the remaining places, whither I have driven them, An affirmation of Jehovah 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 And thou hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah, Do they fall, and not rise? Doth he turn back, and not return?
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 Turned back — a perpetual backsliding? They have kept hold on deceit, They have refused to turn 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 have given attention, yea, I hearken, They do not speak right, No man hath repented of his wickedness, Saying, What have I done? Every one hath turned to his courses, As a horse is rushing into 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 a stork in the heavens hath known her seasons, And turtle, and swallow, and crane, Have watched the time of their coming, And — My people have not known the judgment of Jehovah.
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 do ye say, We [are] wise, And the law of Jehovah [is] with us? Surely, lo, falsely it hath wrought, The false pen of 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 have been the wise, They have been affrighted, and are captured, Lo, against a word of Jehovah they kicked, And the wisdom of what — 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, I give their wives to others, Their fields to dispossessors, For from the least even unto the greatest, Every one is gaining dishonest gain, From prophet even unto priest, every one is dealing 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 they heal the breach of the daughter of my people slightly, Saying, Peace, peace! and there is 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 They were ashamed when they did abomination! Yea, they are not at all ashamed, And blushing they have not known, Therefore, they do fall among falling ones, In the time of their inspection they stumble, said Jehovah.
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 utterly consume them, an affirmation of Jehovah, There are no grapes in the vine, Yea, there are no figs in the fig-tree, And the leaf hath faded, And the strength they have passeth 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 Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
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 Looking for peace — and there is no good, For a time of healing, and 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 hath been heard the snorting of his horses, From the voice of the neighings of his mighty ones, Trembled hath all the land, And they come in and consume the land and its fulness, The city and the inhabitants in it.
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, lo, I am sending among you serpents, Vipers that have no charmer, And they have bitten you, an affirmation of Jehovah.
Watch out! I'm sending snakes among you, vipers that can't be charmed. They will come and bite you, declares the Lord.
18 My refreshing for me [is] sorrow, For me my heart [is] sick.
Nothing comforts me in my suffering; I feel terrible inside.
19 Lo, the voice of a cry of the daughter of my people from a land afar off, Is Jehovah not in Zion? is her king not in her? Wherefore have they provoked Me with their graven images, With the vanities of a foreigner?
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 Harvest hath passed, summer hath ended, And we — we have not been saved.
“The harvest is over, the summer is finished, but we're not saved,” say the people.
21 For a breach of the daughter of my people have I been broken, I have been black, astonishment 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 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?
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?
