Jeremiah 8
8
1“In that day,” says the Lord, “the enemy will break open the graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests, prophets, and common people of Jerusalem. 2They will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure. 3And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!
Deception by False Prophets
4“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
5Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?
Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?
They cling tightly to their lies
and will not turn around.
6I listen to their conversations
and don’t hear a word of truth.
Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?
Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”?
No! All are running down the path of sin
as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!
7Even the stork that flies across the sky
knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.#8:7 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
They do not know the Lord’s laws.
8“‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,”
when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
9These wise teachers will fall
into the trap of their own foolishness,
for they have rejected the word of the Lord.
Are they so wise after all?
10I will give their wives to others
and their farms to strangers.
From the least to the greatest,
their lives are ruled by greed.
Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.
They are all frauds.
11They offer superficial treatments
for my people’s mortal wound.
They give assurances of peace
when there is no peace.
12Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions?
Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!
Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.
They will be brought down when I punish them,
says the Lord.
13I will surely consume them.
There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes.
Their fruit trees will all die.
Whatever I gave them will soon be gone.
I, the Lord, have spoken!’
14“Then the people will say,
‘Why should we wait here to die?
Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there.
For the Lord our God has decreed our destruction
and has given us a cup of poison to drink
because we sinned against the Lord.
15We hoped for peace, but no peace came.
We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’
16“The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heard
all the way from the land of Dan in the north!
The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—
cities and people alike.
17I will send these enemy troops among you
like poisonous snakes you cannot charm.
They will bite you, and you will die.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah Weeps for Sinful Judah
18My grief is beyond healing;
my heart is broken.
19Listen to the weeping of my people;
it can be heard all across the land.
“Has the Lord abandoned Jerusalem?#8:19 Hebrew Zion?” the people ask.
“Is her King no longer there?”
“Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idols
and their worthless foreign gods?” says the Lord.
20“The harvest is finished,
and the summer is gone,” the people cry,
“yet we are not saved!”
21I hurt with the hurt of my people.
I mourn and am overcome with grief.
22Is there no medicine in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why is there no healing
for the wounds of my people?
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Jeremiah 8: NLT
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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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