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
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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