Jeremiah 8
8
1“At that time”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the kohanim and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.
2They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, and after which they have walked and sought, and which they have worshipped. They will not be gathered or buried, but will be like dung on the face of the ground.
3So death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family that remains in all the places to which I have driven them.” It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Each Turns His Own Way
4Moreover you will say to them, thus says Adonai: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return?
5Why then has this people—Jerusalem— turned away in perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6I listened attentively, but they have not spoken what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each one turns in his own direction, like a horse charging into battle.
7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed times, and the turtledove, swallow and crane observe the time of their migration, but My people do not know the judgments of Adonai.
8How can you say, ‘We are wise! The Torah of Adonai is with us’? In fact, it is the lying pen of the scribes that have made it a lie.
9The wise men will be put to shame— shattered, trapped. Look! They have rejected Adonai’s word, so what wisdom do they have?
10Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to new owners. For from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for gain. From the prophet even to the kohen everyone practices deceit.
11They heal the fracture of the daughter of My people by treating it superficially— saying, ‘Shalom, shalom,’ when there is no shalom.
12Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed? No, not ashamed, not at all— they do not know how to blush! So they will fall among the fallen. At the time of their punishment they will be brought down.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
13“I will utterly consume them,” says Adonai. “There will be no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree, and even the leaf will wither, and what I gave them will pass away.”
14“Why are we sitting here? Assemble! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! For Adonai Eloheinu has silenced us and given us poisoned water to drink. For we have sinned against Adonai.
15We hoped for shalom, but it is no good, for a time of healing —and suddenly, terror!”
16From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses. At the sound of his stallions neighing, the whole land quakes. For they come and devour the land and everything in it— the city and all who live there.
17“For I am about to send serpents on you, vipers for which there is no charm, and they will bite you.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
Weeping for Jerusalem
18My joy is overcome by grief, my heart is faint within me.
19Listen, the sound of the cry of the daughter of my people —a voice from a distant land— “Is Adonai no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer in her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
20“Harvest is past, summer is over, yet we are not saved.”
21“Because of the brokenness of the daughter of my people, I am brokenhearted. I mourn—desolation grips me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Then why has no healing gone up for the daughter of my people?
23If only my head were water and my eyes a fountain of tears, then I would weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
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Jeremiah 8: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 8
8
1-2“And when the time comes”—God’s Decree!—“I’ll see to it that they dig up the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes and priests and prophets, and yes, even the bones of the common people. They’ll dig them up and spread them out like a congregation at worship before sun, moon, and stars, all those sky gods they’ve been so infatuated with all these years, following their ‘lucky stars’ in doglike devotion. The bones will be left scattered and exposed, to reenter the soil as fertilizer, like manure.
3“Everyone left—all from this evil generation unlucky enough to still be alive in whatever godforsaken place I will have driven them to—will wish they were dead.” Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
To Know Everything but God’s Word
4-7“Tell them this, God’s Message:
“‘Do people fall down and not get up?
Or take the wrong road and then just keep going?
So why does this people go backward,
and just keep on going—backward!
They stubbornly hold on to their illusions,
refuse to change direction.
I listened carefully
but heard not so much as a whisper.
No one expressed one word of regret.
Not a single “I’m sorry” did I hear.
They just kept at it, blindly and stupidly
banging their heads against a brick wall.
Cranes know when it’s time
to move south for winter.
And robins, warblers, and bluebirds
know when it’s time to come back again.
But my people? My people know nothing,
not the first thing of God and his rule.
8-9“‘How can you say, “We know the score.
We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”?
Look where it’s gotten you—stuck in illusion.
Your religion experts have taken you for a ride!
Your know-it-alls will be unmasked,
caught and shown up for what they are.
Look at them! They know everything but God’s Word.
Do you call that “knowing”?
10-12“‘So here’s what will happen to the know-it-alls:
I’ll make them wifeless and homeless.
Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar,
little people and big people alike.
Prophets and priests and everyone in between
twist words and doctor truth.
My dear Daughter—my people—broken, shattered,
and yet they put on Band-Aids,
Saying, “It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.”
But things are not “just fine”!
Do you suppose they are embarrassed
over this outrage?
Not really. They have no shame.
They don’t even know how to blush.
There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom
and there’s no getting up.
As far as I’m concerned,
they’re finished.’” God has spoken.
* * *
13“‘I went out to see if I could salvage anything’”
—God’s Decree—
“‘but found nothing:
Not a grape, not a fig,
just a few withered leaves.
I’m taking back
everything I gave them.’”
14-16So why are we sitting here, doing nothing?
Let’s get organized.
Let’s go to the big city
and at least die fighting.
We’ve gotten God’s ultimatum:
We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t—
damned because of our sin against him.
We hoped things would turn out for the best,
but it didn’t happen that way.
We were waiting around for healing—
and terror showed up!
From Dan at the northern borders
we hear the hooves of horses,
Horses galloping, horses neighing.
The ground shudders and quakes.
They’re going to swallow up the whole country.
Towns and people alike—fodder for war.
17“‘What’s more, I’m dispatching
poisonous snakes among you,
Snakes that can’t be charmed,
snakes that will bite you and kill you.’”
God’s Decree!
Advancing from One Evil to the Next
18-22I drown in grief.
I’m heartsick.
Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people
reverberating through the country.
Is God no longer in Zion?
Has the King gone away?
Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods,
their silly, imported no-gods before me?
The crops are in, the summer is over,
but for us nothing’s changed.
We’re still waiting to be rescued.
For my dear broken people, I’m heartbroken.
I weep, seized by grief.
Are there no healing ointments in Gilead?
Isn’t there a doctor in the house?
So why can’t something be done
to heal and save my dear, dear people?
* * *
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.