1 The Faithlessness of Jerusalem “At that time,” declares Yahweh, “they will bring out 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 the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.
2 And they will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground.
3 And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have banished them,” declares Yahweh of hosts.
4 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh,“Domenfall and not get up again?Does one turn away and not 8:4 Or repent turn back?
5 “Why then has this people, Jerusalem, 8:5Or Turned away in continually turning Turned away in continual faithlessness?They hold fast to deceit;They refuse to return.
6 “I have given heed and heard,They have spoken what is not right;No man regretted his evil,Saying, ‘What have I done?’Everyone turned to his course,Like a horse charging into the battle.
7 “Even the stork in the skyKnows her seasons;And the turtledove and the swift and the craneKeep the time of their 8:7Lit coming migration;But My people do not knowThelegaljudgment of Yahweh.
8 ¶“How can you say, ‘We are wise,And the law of Yahweh is with us’?But behold, the lying pen of the scribesHas madeitinto a lie.
9 “The wise men are put to shame;They are dismayed and captured;Behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh,And what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 “Therefore I will give their wives to others,Their fields to 8:10Lit possessing ones new possessors,Because from the least even to the greatestEveryone is greedy for gain;From the prophet even to the priestEveryone practices lying.
11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’But there is no peace.
12 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?They certainly were not ashamed,And they did not know how to feel dishonor;Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;At the time of their 8:12Or visitation, so in Jer punishment they shall be brought down,”Says Yahweh.
13 ¶“I will surely gather them up,” declares Yahweh;“There will be no grapes on the vineAnd no figs on the fig tree,And the leaf will wither;And what I have given them will pass away.” ’ ”
14 Why are we sitting still?Gather yourselves, and let us go into the fortified citiesAnd let us be silent thereBecause Yahweh our God has silenced usAnd given us 8:14 Or gall poisoned water to drink,For we have sinned against Yahweh.
15 Wewaited for peace, but there was no good;For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16 From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses;At the sound of the neighing of his valiant steedsThe whole land quakes;And they come and devour the land as well as its fullness,The city and its inhabitants.
17 “For behold, I am sending serpents against you,Vipers, for which there is no charm,And they will bite you,” declares Yahweh.Sorrow over Zion
18 ¶ 8:18As in Gr and versions My sorrow is beyond healing;My heart is faint within me!
19 Behold,thesound! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land:“Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”“Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign 8:19 Lit vanities idols?”
20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended,And we are not saved.”
21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;I mourn, desolation has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why then has not the 8:22Or healing health of the daughter of my people gone up?