Jeremiah 8
8
1“‘The Lord says: At that time the bones will be removed from the tombs. The bones of Judah’s kings and officers, priests and prophets and the people of Jerusalem will be removed. 2The bones will be spread on the ground under the sun, moon and stars the people loved and served. They went after these gods, searched them out and worshiped them. No one will gather up the bones and bury them. So they will be like dung thrown on the ground. 3I will force the people of Judah to leave their homes and their land. Those of this evil family who are not dead will wish they were dead, says the Lord.’
Sin and Punishment
4“Say to the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord says:
When a man falls down, doesn’t he get up again?
And when a man goes the wrong way, doesn’t he come back again?
5Why, then, have the people of Judah gone the wrong way?
And why do the people of Jerusalem not turn back?
They believe their own lies.
They refuse to turn around and come back.
6I have listened to them very carefully.
But they do not say what is right.
They do not feel sorry about their wicked ways.
The people don’t think about the bad things they have done.
Each person goes his own way.
He is like a horse charging into a battle.
7Even the birds in the sky
know the right times to do things.
The storks, doves, swifts and thrushes
know when it is time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
what the Lord wants them to do!
8“‘You keep saying, “We are wise.
This is because we have the teachings of the Lord.”
But actually, those who copy the Scriptures
have written lies with their pens.
9These wise men refused to listen to the word of the Lord.
So they are not really wise at all.
They will be ashamed.
They will be shocked and trapped.
10So I will give their wives to other men.
I will give their fields to new owners.
Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,
is greedy for money.
Even the prophets and priests
all tell lies.
11They try to heal my people’s serious injuries
as if they were small wounds.
They say, “It’s all right, it’s all right!”
But really, it is not all right.
12They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act.
But they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t even know how to blush about their sins.
So they will fall, along with everyone else.
They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them, says the Lord.
13“‘I will take away their crops, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves will dry up and die.
I will take away what I gave them!’”
14“Why are we just sitting here?
Let’s get together!
We have sinned against the Lord.
So he has given us poisoned water to drink.
Come, let’s run to the strong, walled cities.
The Lord our God has decided that we must die.
So let’s die there.
15We hoped to have peace.
But nothing good has come.
We hoped for a time when he would heal us.
But only disaster has come!
16From the land of the tribe of Dan,
the snorting of the enemy’s horses is heard.
The ground shakes from the neighing of their large horses.
They have come to destroy
the land and everything in it.
They have come to destroy
the city and all the people who live there.”
17“Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you.
These snakes cannot be charmed.
They will bite you,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Sadness
18God, you are my comfort when I am very sad.
You are my comfort when I’m afraid.
19Listen to my people!
They are crying for help from a faraway land.
They say, “Is the Lord still in Jerusalem?
Is Jerusalem’s king still there?”
But God says, “Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols?
They worshiped their useless foreign idols.”
20And the people say, “Harvest time is over.
Summer has ended.
And we have not been saved.”
21My people are crushed. So I am crushed.
I cry loudly, and I am afraid for them.
22Surely there is a balm in the land of Gilead.
Surely there is a doctor there.
So why aren’t the hurts of my people healed?
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 8
8
1At 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,
2And 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.
3And 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.
4And thou hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah, Do they fall, and not rise? Doth he turn back, and not return?
5Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem Turned back — a perpetual backsliding? They have kept hold on deceit, They have refused to turn back.
6I 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.
7Even 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.
8How 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.
9Ashamed 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?
10Therefore, 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.
11And they heal the breach of the daughter of my people slightly, Saying, Peace, peace! and there is no peace.
12They 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.
13I 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.
14Wherefore 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.
15Looking for peace — and there is no good, For a time of healing, and lo, terror.
16From 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.
17For, lo, I am sending among you serpents, Vipers that have no charmer, And they have bitten you, an affirmation of Jehovah.
18My refreshing for me [is] sorrow, For me my heart [is] sick.
19Lo, 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?
20Harvest hath passed, summer hath ended, And we — we have not been saved.
21For a breach of the daughter of my people have I been broken, I have been black, astonishment hath seized me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?
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