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?
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 8: NLT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 8
8
1“At that time,” declares יהוה, “they shall bring the bones of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, and the bones of its heads, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, out of their burial-sites,
2and shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of the heavens, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought, and to which they have bowed themselves. They shall not be gathered nor buried, they shall be for dung on the face of the earth.
3“And death shall be preferred to life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil people, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” declares יהוה of hosts.
4“And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Would they fall, and not rise? Does one turn away and not return?
5“Why then has this people, Yerushalayim, turned away in a continual backsliding? They are strengthened in deceit, they refuse to turn back.
6“I have listened and heard – they do not speak right. No man has repented of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ They all turned to their own course, like a horse rushing into battle.
7“Even a stork in the heavens knows her appointed times. And a turtledove, and a swallow, and a thrush guard the time of their coming. But My people do not know the right-ruling of יהוה.
8“How do you say, ‘We are wise, and the Torah of יהוה is with us’? But look, the false pen of the scribe has worked falsehood.
9“The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be broken down and caught. See, they have rejected the Word of יהוה, so what wisdom do they have?
10“Therefore I give their wives to others, and their fields to possessing ones. For from the least even to the greatest, they are all greedy for gain. From the prophet to the priest, all act falsely.
11“And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
12“Were they ashamed when they had done abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. So they shall fall among those who fall. They shall stumble in the time of their visitation,” said יהוה.
13“I shall snatch them away,” declares יהוה. “There are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf has faded. And what I gave them shall pass away from them.” ’ ”
14Why are we sitting still? Gather yourselves, and let us go into the walled cities, and let us be silent there. For יהוה our Elohim has let us perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against יהוה.
15We looked for peace, but there was no good; and for a time of healing, but see – fear!
16The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan. All the land shook at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones. They came and devoured the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it.
17“For look, I am sending among you serpents, adders, which have no enchanter, and they shall bite you,” declares יהוה.
18When in grief I would seek comfort; my heart is sick within me.
19Observe! The voice, the cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land, “Is יהוה not in Tsiyon? Is her Sovereign not in her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, and with foreign worthlessnesses?”
20“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we have not been saved!”
21For the breach of the daughter of my people I have been broken. I have grown sad; astonishment has taken hold of me.
22Is there no balm in Gil‛aḏ, is there no healer there? Why has the healing of the daughter of my people not come?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.