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: CPDV
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Jeremiah 8
8
1At that time—oracle of the Lord—the bones of the kings and princes of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves#Bar 2:24. 2and spread out before the sun, the moon, and the whole host of heaven,#Host of heaven: the stars, worshiped by other nations and even by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, particularly during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon. which they loved and served, which they followed, consulted, and worshiped. They will not be gathered up for burial, but will lie like dung upon the ground.#Dt 4:19. 3Death will be preferred to life by all the survivors of this wicked people who remain in any of the places to which I banish them—oracle of the Lord of hosts.
Israel’s Conduct Incomprehensible
4Tell them: Thus says the Lord:
When someone falls, do they not rise again?
if they turn away, do they not turn back?
5Why then do these people resist
with persistent rebellion?
Why do they cling to deception,
refuse to turn back?#Jer 5:3; 7:24, 26.
6I have listened closely:
they speak what is not true;
No one regrets wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Everyone keeps on running their course,
like a horse dashing into battle.#Jb 34:31–32.
7Even the stork in the sky
knows its seasons;
Turtledove, swift, and thrush
observe the time of their return,
But my people do not know
the order of the Lord.#Is 1:3.
8How can you say, “We are wise,#Mal 2:8; Rom 2:17–23.
we have the law of the Lord”?
See, that has been changed into falsehood
by the lying pen of the scribes!#Lying pen of the scribes: because the teachings and interpretations of the scribes ran counter to the word of the Lord.
9The wise are put to shame,
terrified, and trapped;
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what sort of wisdom do they have?#1 Cor 3:20.
Shameless in Their Crimes
10Therefore, I will give their wives to other men,
their fields to new owners.
Small and great alike, all are greedy for gain,
prophet and priest, all practice fraud.#Jer 6:13; Dt 28:30.
11They have treated lightly
the injury to the daughter of my people:#Daughter of my people: see note on 4:11.
“Peace, peace!” they say,
though there is no peace.#Jer 6:14.
12They have acted shamefully; they have done abominable things,
yet they are not at all ashamed,
they do not know how to blush.
Hence they shall be among those who fall;
in their time of punishment they shall stumble,
says the Lord.#Jer 6:15.
Threats of Punishment
13I will gather them all in—oracle of the Lord:
no grapes on the vine,
No figs on the fig trees,
foliage withered!
Whatever I have given them is gone.
14Why do we remain here?
Let us assemble and flee to the fortified cities,
where we will meet our doom;
For the Lord our God has doomed us,
he has given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the Lord.#Jer 9:14; 23:15.
15We wait for peace to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.#Jer 14:19.
16From Dan is heard
the snorting of horses;
The neighing of stallions
shakes the whole land.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and its inhabitants.
17Yes, I will send against you
poisonous snakes.
Against them no charm will work
when they bite you—oracle of the Lord.#Dt 32:24.
The Prophet’s Grief over the People’s Suffering
18My joy is gone,
grief is upon me,
my heart is sick.
19Listen! the cry of the daughter of my people,
far and wide in the land!
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,
is her King no longer in her midst?”
Why do they provoke me with their idols,
with their foreign nonentities?#Dt 32:21; Mi 4:9.
20“The harvest is over, the summer ended,
but we have not yet been saved!”
21I am broken by the injury of the daughter of my people.
I am in mourning; horror has seized me.#Jer 14:17.
22Is there no balm in Gilead,#Gilead: a region southeast of the Sea of Galilee noted for its healing balm.
no healer there?
Why does new flesh not grow
over the wound of the daughter of my people?#Jer 46:11.
23Oh, that my head were a spring of water,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
over the slain from the daughter of my people!
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc