Jeremiah 8
8
1The Lord declares, “At that time the bones of the kings and the leaders of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the others who lived in Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves. 2They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.
3“Then the few who remain from these wicked people will want to die rather than live where I will scatter them,” declares the Lord of Armies.
The Lord’s Judgment on Judah’s False Religion
4“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
When someone falls, he gets back up.
When someone turns away from me, he returns.
5The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning.
They still cling to deceit.
They refuse to return.
6I have paid attention and listened,
but they weren’t honest.
They don’t turn away from their wickedness and ask,
“What have we done?”
They go their own ways like horses charging into battle.
7Even storks know when it’s time to return.
Mourning doves, swallows, and cranes know
when it’s time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
that I, the Lord, am urging them to return.
8“ ‘How can you say that you are wise
and that you have the Lord’s teachings?
The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies.
9Wise people are put to shame, confused, and trapped.
They have rejected the Lord’s word.
They don’t really have any wisdom.
10That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
All of them, from the least important to the most important,
are eager to make money dishonestly.
All of them, from prophets to priests, act deceitfully.
11They treat my dear people’s wounds
as though they were not serious, saying,
“Everything is alright! Everything is alright!”
But it’s not alright.
12Are they ashamed that they do disgusting things?
No, they’re not ashamed.
They don’t even know how to blush.
So they will die with those who die.
They will be brought down when I punish them,’ ” says the Lord.
13“ ‘I would have gathered their harvest,’ ” declares the Lord,
“ ‘but there are no grapes on the vine.
There are no figs on the tree,
and the leaves have dried up.
What I have given them will be taken away.’ ”
14Why are we just sitting here? Let’s get up!
Let’s go into the fortified cities and die there.
The Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has given us poison to drink
because we have sinned against the Lord.
15We hoped for peace, but nothing good has happened.
We hoped for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
16The snorting of horses can be heard from Dan.
The neighing of stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They are coming to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and its people.
17“I am going to send snakes among you,
vipers that can’t be charmed.
They will bite you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Grief over His People’s Punishment
18Sorrow has overwhelmed me.
I am sick at heart!
19The cry from my dear people comes from a distant land:
“Isn’t the Lord in Zion?
Isn’t Zion’s king still there?”
They make me furious with their idols, with their foreign gods.
20The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we haven’t been saved.
21I am crushed because my dear people have been crushed.
I mourn; terror grips me.
22Isn’t there medicine in Gilead?
Aren’t there doctors there?
Then why hasn’t the health of my dear people been restored?
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Jeremiah 8: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Yirmeyah 8
8
1At that time, saith Hashem, they#8:1 i.e., the invaders shall remove the atzmot of the melachim of Yehudah, and the atzmot of his sarim, and the atzmot of the kohanim, and the atzmot of the nevi'im, and the atzmot of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, out of their keverim;
2And they shall spread them out before the shemesh, and the yarei'ach, and all the tz'va haShomayim, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have consulted, and whom they have worshiped; they shall not be gathered up, nor be buried in a kever; they shall be like domen upon the surface of ha'adamah.
3And mavet shall be chosen rather than chayyim by all the She'erit of them that remain of this mishpakhah hara'ah, which remain in all the places where I have banished them, saith Hashem Tzva'os.
4Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Hashem: Shall they fall, and not get up? Shall one turn away, and not turn back?
5Why then does HaAm Hazeh turn away in perpetual meshuvah (backsliding)? They hold fast to deceit, refusing to make teshuvah.
6I paid heed and heard, but they spoke not aright; no ish made teshuvah from his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one pursues his own course, like the sus (horse) charging into milchamah.
7Yea, the stork in the Shomayim knoweth her mo'adim (appointed times); and the turtledove and the swift and the crane are shomer over their time for migration; but Ami (My People) have no da'as (knowledge) of the Mishpat Hashem (rule, ordinance, regulation, law of Hashem).
8How can ye say, We are chachamim (wise ones), and the torat Hashem is with us, when, hinei, the et sheker (deceiving pen) of the sofrim (scribes) has made it#8:8 the torat Hashem into sheker (a falsehood).#8:8 i.e., falsely authoritative scribal interpretation has twisted Scripture, perverting its truth; see also Jer 2:8; 2K 3:16; here is a warning against false teachers, and it is important because the scribal group in Israel would become the rabbinic group in time to come, and here their doctrines are coming into direct opposition to the Torah and the inerrant prophecies of Jeremiah.
9The chachamim (wise men) are ashamed, they are dismayed and trapped; they have rejected the Devar Hashem; so what chochmah (wisdom) is in them?
10Therefore will I give their nashim unto others, and their sadot to them that shall inherit them; for every one from the katan even unto the gadol is greedy for unjust gain, from the navi even unto the kohen every one doeth sheker.
11For they give superficial treatment to the hurt of Bat Ami, saying, Shalom, shalom; v'ein shalom.
12Were they ashamed when they did to'evah (abomination)? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they know to blush; therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their pekuddah (visitation [for punishment], time of reckoning) they shall be brought down, saith Hashem.
13I would surely have harvested them, saith Hashem, but no grapes are on the gefen, nor te'enim (figs) on the te'enah (fig tree), even the leaf shall wither; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us perish there; for Hashem Eloheinu hath made us to perish, and given us mey rosh (poisonous water) to drink, because we have sinned against Hashem.
15We looked for shalom, but no tov came; and for et marpeh (a time of healing), and, hinei, terror!
16The snorting of his#8:16 the foe from the north susim (horses) was heard from Dan; kol ha'aretz trembled at the sound of the neighing of his stallions; for they are come, and have devoured eretz, and all that is in it; the Ir (city),#8:16 i.e., the city of Dan in the north of Israel and those that dwell therein.
17For, hinei, I will send nachashim, tzifonim (vipers), among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith Hashem.
18When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my lev is faint within me.
19Hinei, the voice of the cry of the Bat Ami from eretz markhakim (a land of places far away): is Hashem not in Tziyon? Is her Melech not in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their pesilim (idols), and with alien vanities (futile foreign g-ds)?
20The katzir (harvest) is past, kayitz (summer) is ended, and loh noshanu (we are not saved).#8:20 from coming judgment and punishment
21For the hurt of the Bat Ami am I hurt; I mourn; desolation hath taken hold on me.
22Is there no tzori (medicinal balsam or balm) in Gil'ad; is there no rofeh (physician) there? Why then is the health of the Bat Ami not recovered?
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