Jeremiah 8
8
Death over Life
1“At that time” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.#2Kg 9:37; 23:16; Am 2:1 2They will be exposed#2Sm 21:12–14; Ps 53:5; Ezk 6:5 to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky,#Dt 4:19; 2Kg 17:16; 21:3; 23:4–5; Ezk 8:16 which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the soil’s surface.#Ps 83:10; Jr 9:22; 16:4; 25:33 3Death will be chosen over life#Dt 30:11–20; Jb 3:21–22; 7:15–16; Rv 9:6 by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them.”#Jr 23:3,8; 29:14,18; 32:37; Dn 9:7 This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
4“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:
Do people fall and not get up again?#Is 24:20; Jr 25:27; Am 5:2
If they turn away, do they not return?
5Why have these people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They take hold of deceit;#Jr 14:14; 23:26; Zph 3:13
they refuse to return.#Jr 5:3; Hs 11:5
6I have paid careful attention.
They do not speak what is right.
No one regrets his evil,
asking, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone has stayed his course
like a horse rushing into battle.#Jb 39:19–25
7Even storks in the sky
know their seasons.
Turtledoves, swallows, and cranes#8:7 Hb obscure
are aware of their migration,
but my people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.#2Kg 17:26; Ps 95:10; Is 1:3; Jr 4:22; 5:4
Punishment for Judah’s Leaders
8“How can you claim, ‘We are wise;
the law of the Lord is with us’?
In fact, the lying pen of scribes#Jb 19:24; Ps 45:1; Jr 17:1
has produced falsehood.
9The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and snared.
They have rejected the word of the Lord,#1Sm 15:23,26
so what wisdom do they really have?
10Therefore, I will give#Jr 6:13–15 their wives to other men,
their fields to new occupants,
for from the least to the greatest,#Est 1:20; Jr 6:13; 31:34; 42:1,8; 44:12
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11They have treated the brokenness
of my dear#8:11 Lit of the daughter of my, also in vv. 19,21,22 people superficially,
claiming, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably?
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation.
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse,”#Jr 10:15; 49:8; 51:18
says the Lord.
13“I will gather them and bring them to an end.”#8:13 Lit Gathering I will end them#Zph 1:2
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither.
Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”
God’s People Unrepentant
14Why are we just sitting here?
Gather together; let’s enter the fortified cities
and perish there,#8:14 Or there be silenced
for the Lord our God has destroyed#8:14 Or silenced us.
He has given us poisoned water to drink,#2Kg 7:3–4; Jr 9:15; 21:8–9
because we have sinned against the Lord.#Is 64:5; Jr 3:25; 14:7,20; Lm 3:42; 5:16; Dn 9:5
15We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good;
for a time of healing, but there was only terror.#Jr 14:19; 33:9
16From Dan, the snorting of horses is heard.
At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds,#Jdg 5:22; Jr 47:3; 50:11
the whole land quakes.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and all its residents.
17Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you,
poisonous vipers#Nm 21:6–9; Dt 32:24 that cannot be charmed.#Ps 58:4–5; Ec 10:11
They will bite you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Lament over Judah
18My joy has flown away;
grief has settled on me.
My heart is sick.#Lm 5:17
19Listen — the cry of my dear people
from a faraway land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,#Ps 99:2; 102:21; Jr 14:9; Jl 3:17,21; Mc 3:11
her King not within her?”
Why have they angered me
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?#Dt 32:21; Jr 2:5
20Harvest has passed, summer has ended,
but we have not been saved.
21I am broken by the brokenness
of my dear people.#Jr 6:14; 8:11
I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead?#Gn 37:25; Jr 46:11
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear people
not come about?
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Jeremiah 8: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 8
8
1“At that time the bones of the kings and of the officials of Judah, as well as the bones of the priests, of the prophets, and of the other people who lived in Jerusalem, will be taken out of their graves. 2Instead of being gathered and buried, their bones will be like manure lying on the ground. They will be spread out before the sun, the moon, and the stars, which these people have loved and served, and which they have consulted and worshipped. 3And the people of this evil nation who survive, who live in the places where I have scattered them, will prefer to die rather than to go on living. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.”
Sin and Punishment
4The LORD told me to say to his people, “When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't he turn back? 5Why then, my people, do you turn away from me without ever turning back? You cling to your idols and refuse to return to me. 6I listened carefully, but you did not speak the truth. Not one of you has been sorry for his wickedness; not one of you has asked, ‘What have I done wrong?’ Everyone keeps on going his own way, like a horse rushing into battle. 7Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you. 8How can you say that you are wise, and that you know my laws? Look, the laws have been changed by dishonest scribes. 9Your wise men are put to shame; they are confused and trapped. They have rejected my words; what wisdom have they got now? 10#Jer 6.12–15So I will give their fields to new owners and their wives to other men. Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly. Even prophets and priests cheat the people. 11#Ezek 13.10They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. ‘All is well,’ they say, when all is not well. 12My people, were you ashamed because you did these disgusting things? No, you were not ashamed at all; you don't even know how to blush! And so you will fall as others have fallen; when I punish you, that will be the end of you. I, the LORD, have spoken.
13“I wanted to gather my people, as a farmer gathers a harvest; but they are like a vine with no grapes, like a fig tree with no figs; even the leaves have withered. Therefore, I have allowed outsiders to take over the land.”#8.13 Therefore… land; Hebrew unclear.
14“Why are we sitting still?” God's people ask. “Come on, we will run to the fortified cities, and die there. The LORD our God has condemned us to die; he has given us poison to drink, because we have sinned against him. 15We hoped for peace and a time of healing, but it was no use; terror came instead. 16Our enemies are already in the city of Dan; we hear the snorting of their horses. The whole land trembles when their horses neigh. Our enemies have come to destroy our land and everything in it, our city and all its people.”
17“Watch out!” the LORD says, “I am sending snakes among you, poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you.”
Jeremiah's Sorrow for his People
18My sorrow cannot be healed;#8.18 Probable text My sorrow… healed; Hebrew unclear.
I am sick at heart.
19Listen! Throughout the land
I hear my people crying out,
“Is the LORD no longer in Zion?
Is Zion's king no longer there?”
The LORD, their king, replies,
“Why have you made me angry by worshipping your idols
and by bowing down to your useless foreign gods?”
20The people cry out,
“The summer is gone, the harvest is over,
but we have not been saved.”
21My heart has been crushed
because my people are crushed;
I mourn; I am completely dismayed.
22Is there no medicine in Gilead?#8.22 Gilead: A region east of the Jordan, famous for plants that were used for medicinal purposes.
Are there no doctors there?
Why, then, have my people not been healed?
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.