Jeremiah 8
8
1 "In that time, says the Lord, they will cast out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its leaders, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of those who were living in Jerusalem, from their graves.
2 And they will spread them out before the sun and the moon and the entire army of the heavens, which they have loved, and served, and followed, and which they have sought and adored. They will not be collected, and they will not be buried. They will be like manure upon the face of the earth.
3 And they will greatly prefer death to life: all those who will have been left from this wicked kindred, in all the forsaken places to which I will cast them out, says the Lord of hosts.
4 And you will say to them: Thus says the Lord: He who falls, will he not rise again? And he who has been turned away, will he not return?
5 Then why have this people in Jerusalem turned away with a contentious loathing? They have taken hold of what is false, and they are not willing to return.
6 I paid close attention and I listened carefully. No one is speaking what is good. There is no one who does penance for his sin, saying: 'What have I done?' They have all turned to their own course, like a horse rushing with fury into battle.
7 The hawk in the heavens has known her time. The turtledove, and the swallow, and the stork have kept the time of their arrival. But my people have not known the judgment of the Lord.
8 How can you say: 'We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?' Truly, the lying pen of the scribes has wrought falsehood.
9 The wise men have been confounded; they were terrified and captured. For they cast aside the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them.
10 Because of this, I will give their wives to outsiders and their fields to others as an inheritance. For from the least, even to the greatest, they all pursue avarice; from the prophet, even to the priest, they all act with deceit.
11 And they healed the destruction of the daughter of my people with disgrace, by saying: 'Peace, peace,' though there was no peace.
12 They have been confounded because they committed abomination. Or rather, they have not been confounded with shame, for they do not know how to blush. For this reason, they will fall among the fallen. In the time of their visitation, they will fall, says the Lord.
13 When gathering, I will gather them together, says the Lord. There are no grapes on the vine, and there are no figs on the fig tree. The leaves have fallen. And I have given them the things that have passed away."
14 "Why are we sitting still? Assemble, and let us enter the fortified city, and let us remain silent there. For the Lord our God has brought us to silence, and he has given us the water of gall as a drink. For we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We expected peace, but there was nothing good. We expected a time of health, and behold, dread."
16 "From Dan, the snorting of his horses was heard; the entire land was shaken by the voice of the neighing of his fighters. And they arrived and devoured the land and its plenitude, the city and its inhabitants.
17 For behold, I will send among you serpents, king snakes, against which there is no charm, and they will bite you, says the Lord.
18 My sorrow is beyond sorrow; my heart mourns within me.
19 Behold, the voice of the daughter of my people from a far away land. Is the Lord not with Zion, and is her king not within her? Then why have they provoked me to wrath by their graven images, and by their strange vanities?
20 The harvest has passed by, the summer is at an end, and we have not been saved.
21 Over the destruction of the daughter of my people, I am contrite and saddened; astonishment has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Or is there no physician there? Then why has the wound of the daughter of my people not been closed?"
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Jeremiah 8
8
1When that happens, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves. 2They will lie exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the stars which they loved, which they served, which they followed, which they consulted, and which they worshiped.#8:2. The repetition emphasizes the inability of these “gods” to do anything to protect even the bones of their worshipers. Their bones will not be collected or reburied, but will be left like manure lying on the ground. 3Those who are left of this evil family will prefer to die rather than live in every place I've scattered them, declares the Lord Almighty.
4Tell them this is what the Lord says: When people fall down, don't they get up again? When people go the wrong way, don't they turn around? 5So why have these people of Jerusalem gone the wrong way? Why do they refuse to turn around from their repeated betrayals, holding on to all their lies? 6I've heard exactly what they said, but they don't tell the truth. No one is sorry for doing wrong, asking, “What have I done?” Everyone chooses their own way, like a horse charging into battle.
7Even storks high in the sky know when it's time to migrate. Turtledoves, swifts, and songbirds know when to fly away at the right time of the year. But my people don't know the laws of the Lord. 8How on earth can you say, “We're wise, and we have the Law of the Lord?” Can't you see that the writings of your teachers of the Law have turned it into lies? 9The wise will be shown to be foolish; they will be shocked at being caught out. Can't you see that they've rejected what the Lord says—so do they have any wisdom at all?
10I'm going to give their wives to others, and their fields to different owners, since everyone cheats because they're greedy, poor and rich alike. Even prophets and priests—they are all dishonest liars! 11They give my wounded people first aid, but they don't really care about them. They tell them, “Don't worry! We have peace!” even as war approaches. 12Are they ashamed of the disgusting things they did? No, they're not ashamed at all, they can't even blush. So they will fall just like the others, when I punish them; they will drop down dead, says the Lord. 13I'm going to destroy them, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes left on the vines, no figs on the trees—even the leaves will wither. They will lose whatever I gave them.
14The people say, “Why are we sitting around here? Let's get together and run to the fortified towns. We can die there, for the Lord our God is killing us by giving us poisoned water to drink, because we sinned against him. 15We hoped for peace, but instead nothing good has come; we hoped for a time of healing, but instead there was only sudden terror.”
16The snorting of enemy horses can be heard from Dan.#8:16. Dan was in the north of the country and would be the first to experience invasion. The whole country shakes in fear at the sound of the neighing of these strong stallions, They have come to destroy the country and everything in it; Jerusalem and everyone who lives there. 17Watch out! I'm sending snakes among you, vipers that can't be charmed. They will come and bite you, declares the Lord.
18Nothing comforts me#8:18. Jeremiah is the speaker. in my suffering;#8:18. The Hebrew of this line is obscure. I feel terrible inside. 19Listen to my people crying out for help from a distant land, asking “Isn't the Lord present in Zion anymore? Has her King left?”
Why have they made me#8:19. The Lord is the speaker. angry, worshiping their carved images and their useless foreign idols?
20“The harvest is over, the summer is finished, but we're not saved,” say the people.#8:20. “Say the people”: supplied for clarity
21I'm crushed by the injuries suffered by my people; I mourn for them. I'm horrified at what's happened! 22Isn't there any ointment from Gilead to help heal them? Aren't there any doctors there? So why haven't my people been healed from their wounds?
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com