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
Jeremiah 8
8
1“‘The Lord says: At that time the bones will be removed from the tombs. The bones of Judah’s kings and officers, priests and prophets and the people of Jerusalem will be removed. 2The bones will be spread on the ground under the sun, moon and stars the people loved and served. They went after these gods, searched them out and worshiped them. No one will gather up the bones and bury them. So they will be like dung thrown on the ground. 3I will force the people of Judah to leave their homes and their land. Those of this evil family who are not dead will wish they were dead, says the Lord.’
Sin and Punishment
4“Say to the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord says:
When a man falls down, doesn’t he get up again?
And when a man goes the wrong way, doesn’t he come back again?
5Why, then, have the people of Judah gone the wrong way?
And why do the people of Jerusalem not turn back?
They believe their own lies.
They refuse to turn around and come back.
6I have listened to them very carefully.
But they do not say what is right.
They do not feel sorry about their wicked ways.
The people don’t think about the bad things they have done.
Each person goes his own way.
He is like a horse charging into a battle.
7Even the birds in the sky
know the right times to do things.
The storks, doves, swifts and thrushes
know when it is time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
what the Lord wants them to do!
8“‘You keep saying, “We are wise.
This is because we have the teachings of the Lord.”
But actually, those who copy the Scriptures
have written lies with their pens.
9These wise men refused to listen to the word of the Lord.
So they are not really wise at all.
They will be ashamed.
They will be shocked and trapped.
10So I will give their wives to other men.
I will give their fields to new owners.
Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,
is greedy for money.
Even the prophets and priests
all tell lies.
11They try to heal my people’s serious injuries
as if they were small wounds.
They say, “It’s all right, it’s all right!”
But really, it is not all right.
12They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act.
But they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t even know how to blush about their sins.
So they will fall, along with everyone else.
They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them, says the Lord.
13“‘I will take away their crops, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves will dry up and die.
I will take away what I gave them!’”
14“Why are we just sitting here?
Let’s get together!
We have sinned against the Lord.
So he has given us poisoned water to drink.
Come, let’s run to the strong, walled cities.
The Lord our God has decided that we must die.
So let’s die there.
15We hoped to have peace.
But nothing good has come.
We hoped for a time when he would heal us.
But only disaster has come!
16From the land of the tribe of Dan,
the snorting of the enemy’s horses is heard.
The ground shakes from the neighing of their large horses.
They have come to destroy
the land and everything in it.
They have come to destroy
the city and all the people who live there.”
17“Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you.
These snakes cannot be charmed.
They will bite you,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Sadness
18God, you are my comfort when I am very sad.
You are my comfort when I’m afraid.
19Listen to my people!
They are crying for help from a faraway land.
They say, “Is the Lord still in Jerusalem?
Is Jerusalem’s king still there?”
But God says, “Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols?
They worshiped their useless foreign idols.”
20And the people say, “Harvest time is over.
Summer has ended.
And we have not been saved.”
21My people are crushed. So I am crushed.
I cry loudly, and I am afraid for them.
22Surely there is a balm in the land of Gilead.
Surely there is a doctor there.
So why aren’t the hurts of my people healed?
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