Jeremiah 8
8
1 “At that time,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its officials, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Judah from their graves. 2And they shall spread them out before the sun, and before the moon, and before all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and which they have gone after, and which they have inquired about, and to which they have bowed in worship. They shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground. 3And death will be preferred to life by all the remaining of this evil clan#Or “family” in all the remaining places where I have driven them away,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
Yahweh Questions His People
4“And you shall say to them, ‘Thus asks#Or “says” Yahweh:
“Do men fall and not stand up?
If one turns away does he not return?
5Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in enduring apostasy?
They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return.#Or “repent”
6I have listened attentively,
and I have listened.
They do not speak honestly,
there is no man who regrets his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’
All of them are turning to their ways of running,
like a horse plunging into battle.
7Even the stork in heaven knows its appointed time,
and the turtledove, and the swallow, and the song bird,
they observe the time of their coming.
But my people do not know the ordinance#Or “law” of Yahweh.
8How can you say, ‘We are wise and the law of Yahweh is with us’?
Look, surely the lying stylus of the scribes#Literally “stylus of lie of scribes” has made it a lie.
9The wise will be put to shame,
they will be dismayed,
and they will get taken.
Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh,
and what is wisdom to them?
10Therefore I will give their wives to others,
their fields to conquerors,
because from the smallest to the greatest,
all of them make profit for unlawful gain,
from prophet to priest,
all of them practice deceit.
11And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly,
saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing?
What’s worse,#Or “also” they were not ashamed at all,
and they did not know to feel humiliated.
Therefore#Literally “To thus” they will fall among those who fall;
at the time of their punishment they will stumble,” says Yahweh.
13“I will take away their harvest,”#Literally “I will take away, I will make an end to them” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
“There are no grapes on the vine,
and there are no figs on the fig tree,
and the leaves wither,
and what I gave to them passed over them.” ’ ”
The Nation Longs for Yahweh’s Help
14Why are we sitting?
Gather, and let us go into the fortified cities,
and let us perish there,
for Yahweh our God has caused us to perish,
and has provided drink for us, water of poison,
because we have sinned against Yahweh.
15We hope for peace,
but there is no good,
for a time of healing,
but there is terror.
16“From Dan is heard the snorting of their horses,
from the sound of the neighing of their stallions all the land quakes,
for they come and devour the land,
and that which fills the city,
and those who live in it.
17For look, I am letting loose among you snakes,
adders for which there is no incantation,
and they will bite you,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
18“My comfort is gone from me,
sorrow is on me,
my heart is sick.
19Look, the sound of the cry for help of the daughter of my people
from a distant land,
‘Is Yahweh not in Zion?
Is her king not in her?’
Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
with idols of a foreign land?”
20The harvest has passed,
the summer has come to an end,
and we have not received help.#Or “been saved”
Yahweh’s Lament
21“Because of the wound of the daughter of my people I am broken down,
I mourn, horror has seized me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no healer there?
Why, then, has the healing of the daughter of my people not been restored?
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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