Jeremiah, 8

1. 'When that time comes, Yahweh declares, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its chief men, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will be taken from their tombs.

1. At that time, saith the LORD, 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. They will be spread out before the sun, the moon, the whole array of heaven, whom they have loved and served, followed, consulted and worshipped. They will not be gathered or reburied but will be left lying on the surface like dung.

2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

3. And death will seem preferable to life to all the survivors of this wicked race, wherever I have driven them, Yahweh Sabaoth declares.

3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

4. 'You are to tell them, "Yahweh says this: If someone falls, can he not stand up again? If people stray, can they not turn back?

4. Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

5. Why does this people persist in acts of infidelity, why does Jerusalem persist in continuous infidelity? They cling to illusion, they refuse to turn back.

5. Why [then] is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

6. I have listened attentively: they have never said anything like that. Not one repents of wickedness saying: What have I done? Each one keeps returning to the course like a horse charging into battle.

6. I hearkened and heard, [but] they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

7. Even the stork in the sky knows the appropriate season; turtledove, swallow and crane observe their time of migration. But my people do not know Yahweh's laws!" '

7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

8. How can you say, 'We are wise, since we have Yahweh's Law?' Look how it has been falsified by the lying pen of the scribes!

8. How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of the scribes [is] in vain.

9. The wise are put to shame, alarmed, caught out because they have rejected Yahweh's word. What price their wisdom now?

9. The wise [men] are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom [is] in them?

10. So I shall give their wives to other men, their fields to new masters, for, from the least to greatest, they are all greedy for gain; prophet no less than priest, all of them practise fraud.

10. Therefore will I give their wives unto others, [and] their fields to them that shall inherit [them]: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

11. Without concern they dress the wound of the daughter of my people, saying, 'Peace! Peace!' whereas there is no peace.

11. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace.

12. They should be ashamed of their loathsome deeds. Not they! They feel no shame, they do not even know how to blush. And so as others fall, they too will fall, will be thrown down when the time for punishing them comes, Yahweh says.

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, saith the LORD.

13. I shall put an end to them, Yahweh declares, no more grapes on the vine, no more figs on the fig tree only withered leaves: I have found them people to trample on them!

13. I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: [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 are we sitting still? Mobilise! Take to the fortified towns and there fall silent, since Yahweh our God means to silence us by giving us poisoned water to drink because we have sinned against him.

14. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

15. We are hoping for peace -- no good came of it! For the time of healing -- nothing but terror!

15. We looked for peace, but no good [came; and] for a time of health, and behold trouble!

16. From Dan you can hear the snorting of his horses; at the neighing of his stallions the whole country quakes; they are coming to devour the country and its contents, the town and those that live in it.

16. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.

17. Yes, now I am sending you poisonous snakes against which no charm exists; and they will bite you, Yahweh declares.

17. For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which [will] not [be] charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.

18. Incurable sorrow overtakes me, my heart fails me.

18. [When] I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart [is] faint in me.

19. Hark, from the daughter of my people the cry for help, ringing far and wide throughout the land! 'Is Yahweh no longer in Zion, her King no longer there?' (Why have they provoked me with their idols, with their futile foreign gods?)

19. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: [Is] not the LORD in Zion? [is] not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, [and] with strange vanities?

20. 'Harvest is over, summer at an end, and we have not been saved!'

20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

21. The wound of the daughter of my people wounds me too, all looks dark to me, terror grips me.

21. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

22. Is there no balm in Gilead any more? Is no doctor there? Then why is there no progress in the cure of the daughter of my people?

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?

23. Who will turn my head into a fountain, and my eyes into a spring of tears, that I can weep day and night over the slain of the daughter of my people?

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