Jeremiah 8
8
1“At that time the tombs will be opened,” announces the Lord. “The bones of the kings and officials of Judah will be brought out. The bones of the priests and prophets will be removed. So will the bones of the people of Jerusalem. 2They will lie outside under the sun, moon and all the stars. All these people had loved and served these things. They had followed them and worshiped them. They had asked them for advice. So the bones of these people will not be gathered up or buried again. Instead, they will be like human waste lying there on the ground. 3Everyone left alive in this evil nation will want to die rather than live. That is what they will long for in the lands where I force them to go.” The Lord who rules over all announces this.
The Lord Punishes His Sinful People
4“Jeremiah, tell them, ‘The Lord says,
“ ‘ “When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
When someone turns away, don’t they come back?
5Then why have the people of Jerusalem turned away from me?
Why do they always turn away?
They keep on telling lies.
They refuse to come back to me.
6I have listened carefully.
But they do not say what is right.
They refuse to turn away from their sins.
None of them says, ‘What have I done?’
Each of them goes their own way.
They are like horses charging into battle.
7Storks know when to fly south.
So do doves, swifts and thrushes.
But my people do not know
what I require them to do.
8“ ‘ “How can you people say, ‘We are wise.
We have the law of the Lord’?
Actually, the teachers of the law have told lies about it.
Their pens have not written what is true.
9Those who think they are wise will be put to shame.
They will become terrified. They will be trapped.
They have not accepted my message.
So what kind of wisdom do they have?
10I will give their wives to other men.
I will give their fields to new owners.
Everyone wants to get richer and richer.
Everyone is greedy, from the least important to the most important.
Prophets and priests alike
try to fool everyone they can.
11They bandage the wounds of my people
as if they were not very deep.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say.
But there isn’t any peace.
12Are they ashamed of their hateful actions?
No. They do not feel any shame at all.
They do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall like others who have already fallen.
They will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
13“ ‘ “I will take away their harvest,”
announces the Lord.
“There will not be any grapes on the vines.
The trees will not bear any figs.
The leaves on the trees will dry up.
What I have given my people
will be taken away from them.” ’ ”
14Why are we sitting here?
Let’s gather together!
Let’s run to the cities that have high walls around them!
Let’s die there!
The Lord our God has sentenced us to death.
He has given us poisoned water to drink.
That’s because we’ve sinned against him.
15We hoped peace would come.
But nothing good has happened to us.
We hoped we would finally be healed.
But there is only terror.
16When our enemy’s horses snort,
the noise is heard all the way from the city of Dan.
When their stallions neigh,
the whole land trembles with fear.
They have come to destroy
the land and everything in it.
The city and everyone who lives there will be destroyed.
17“People of Judah, I will send poisonous snakes among you.
No one will be able to charm them.
And they will bite you,”
announces the Lord.
18 Lord, my heart is weak inside me.
You comfort me when I’m sad.
19Listen to the cries of my people
from a land far away.
They cry out, “Isn’t the Lord in Zion?
Isn’t its King there anymore?”
The Lord says, “Why have they made me so angry
by worshiping their wooden gods?
Why have they made me angry
with their worthless statues
of gods from other lands?”
20The people say, “The harvest is over.
The summer has ended.
And we still haven’t been saved.”
21My people are crushed, so I am crushed.
I mourn, and I am filled with horror.
22Isn’t there any healing lotion in Gilead?
Isn’t there a doctor there?
Then why doesn’t someone heal
the wounds of my people?
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Jeremiah 8
8
1At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah and its officers, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be taken from their graves 2and exposed to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly forces, which they have loved and served and which they have followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won’t be gathered for reburial but will become like refuse lying on the ground. 3The survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, wherever I have scattered them, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.
Depth of Judah’s wrongdoing
4Say to them, The LORD proclaims:
When people fall down, don’t they get up?
When they turn aside, don’t they turn back?
5Why then does this people, rebellious Jerusalem,
persistently turn away from me?
They cling to deceit
and refuse to return.
6I have listened carefully
but haven’t heard a word of truth from them.
No one regrets their wrongdoing;
no one says, “What have I done?”
Everyone turns to their own course,
like a stallion dashing into the thick of battle.
7Even the stork in the sky knows the seasons,
and the dove, swallow,#8.7 Heb uncertain and crane#8.7 Heb uncertain
return in due time.
But my people don’t know the LORD’s ways.
8How can you say, “We are wise;
we possess the LORD’s Instruction,”
when the lying pen of the scribes has surely distorted it?
9The wise will be shamed and shocked
when they are caught.
Look, they have rejected the LORD’s word;
what kind of wisdom is that?
10Therefore, I will give their wives to others
and their fields to their captors.
From the least to the greatest,
all are eager to profit.
From prophet to priest,
all trade in falsehood.
11They treat the wound of my people
as if it were nothing:
“All is well, all is well,” they insist,
when in fact nothing is well.
12They should be ashamed
of their detestable practices,
but they have no shame;
they don’t even blush!
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen
and stumble when disaster arrives,
declares the LORD.
13I will put an end to them,#8.13 Heb uncertain
declares the LORD;
there are no grapes on the vine,
no figs on the tree,
only withered leaves.
They have squandered what I have given them!#8.13 Heb uncertain
A lament for God’s people
14Why are we sitting here?
Come, let’s go to the fortified towns
and meet our doom there.
The LORD our God has doomed us
by giving us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the LORD!
15We longed for relief,
but received none;
for a time of healing,
but found only terror.
16The snorting of their horses can be heard as far as Dan;
the neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
towns and people alike.
17See, I’m sending serpents against you,
vipers that you can’t charm,
and they will bite you,
declares the LORD.
18No healing,
only grief;
my heart is broken.#8.18 Heb uncertain
19Listen to the weeping of my people
all across the land:
“Isn’t the LORD in Zion?
Is her king no longer there?”
Why then did they anger me with their images,
with pointless foreign gods?
20“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
yet we aren’t saved.”
21Because my people are crushed,
I am crushed;
darkness and despair overwhelm me.
What to do with God’s people
22Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then have my people
not been restored to health?
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