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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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 8
8
1The Lord declares, “At that time the bones of the kings and the leaders of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the others who lived in Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves. 2They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.
3“Then the few who remain from these wicked people will want to die rather than live where I will scatter them,” declares the Lord of Armies.
The Lord’s Judgment on Judah’s False Religion
4“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
When someone falls, he gets back up.
When someone turns away from me, he returns.
5The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning.
They still cling to deceit.
They refuse to return.
6I have paid attention and listened,
but they weren’t honest.
They don’t turn away from their wickedness and ask,
“What have we done?”
They go their own ways like horses charging into battle.
7Even storks know when it’s time to return.
Mourning doves, swallows, and cranes know
when it’s time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
that I, the Lord, am urging them to return.
8“ ‘How can you say that you are wise
and that you have the Lord’s teachings?
The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies.
9Wise people are put to shame, confused, and trapped.
They have rejected the Lord’s word.
They don’t really have any wisdom.
10That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
All of them, from the least important to the most important,
are eager to make money dishonestly.
All of them, from prophets to priests, act deceitfully.
11They treat my dear people’s wounds
as though they were not serious, saying,
“Everything is alright! Everything is alright!”
But it’s not alright.
12Are they ashamed that they do disgusting things?
No, they’re not ashamed.
They don’t even know how to blush.
So they will die with those who die.
They will be brought down when I punish them,’ ” says the Lord.
13“ ‘I would have gathered their harvest,’ ” declares the Lord,
“ ‘but there are no grapes on the vine.
There are no figs on the tree,
and the leaves have dried up.
What I have given them will be taken away.’ ”
14Why are we just sitting here? Let’s get up!
Let’s go into 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 the Lord.
15We hoped for peace, but nothing good has happened.
We hoped for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
16The snorting of horses can be heard from Dan.
The neighing of stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They are coming to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and its people.
17“I am going to send snakes among you,
vipers that can’t be charmed.
They will bite you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Grief over His People’s Punishment
18Sorrow has overwhelmed me.
I am sick at heart!
19The cry from my dear people comes from a distant land:
“Isn’t the Lord in Zion?
Isn’t Zion’s king still there?”
They make me furious with their idols, with their foreign gods.
20The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we haven’t been saved.
21I am crushed because my dear people have been crushed.
I mourn; terror grips me.
22Isn’t there medicine in Gilead?
Aren’t there doctors there?
Then why hasn’t the health of my dear people been restored?
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