Jer 8
1
At that time, says YHWH, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and
the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets,
and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
2
and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven,
which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked,
and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered,
nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3
And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this
evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says YHWH of
hosts.
4
Moreover you shall say to them, Thus says YHWH: Shall men fall, and not rise up again?
Shall one turn away, and not return?
5
Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they
hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6
I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright: no man repents him of his wickedness,
saying, What have I done? every one turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong
in the battle.
7
Yea, the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the
swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the
law of YHWH.
8
How do you say, We are wise, and the law of YHWH is with us? But, behold, the false
pen of the scribes has wrought falsely.
9
The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected
the word of YHWH; and what manner of wisdom is in them?
10
Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to them that shall possess
them: for every one from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness;
from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely.
11
And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace,
peace; when there is no peace.
12
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed,
neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time
of their visitation they shall be cast down, says YHWH.
13
I will utterly consume them, says YHWH: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor
figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade; and [the things that] I have given
them shall pass away from them.
14
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities,
and let us be silent there; for YHWH our God has put us to silence, and given us water
of gall to drink, because we have sinned against YHWH.
15
We looked for peace, but no good came; [and] for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
16
The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his
strong ones the whole land trembles; for they are come, and have devoured the land
and all that is in it; the city and those that dwell therein.
17
For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and
they shall bite you, says YHWH.
18
Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me.
19
Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very
far off: is not YHWH in Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to
anger with their graven images, and with foreign vanities?
20
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold
on me.
22
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health
of the daughter of my people recovered?