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, says the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs;

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 be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped; and they shall not be gathered or buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground.

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. Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, says 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. "You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he 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 has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to 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 have given heed and listened, but they have not spoken aright; no man repents of his wickedness, saying, `What have I done?' Every one turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into 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. Even the stork in the heavens knows her times; and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming; but my people know not the ordinance 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 can you say, `We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.

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 shall be put to shame, they shall be 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 I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest every one is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest every one deals falsely.

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

11. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, 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 committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says 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. When I would gather them, says the LORD, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed 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? Gather together, let us go into the fortified cities and perish there; for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish, and has given us poisoned water 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, for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

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 their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it.

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 am sending among you serpents, adders which cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you," says the LORD.

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

18. My grief is beyond healing, my heart is sick within 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. Hark, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with their foreign idols?"

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 wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded, I mourn, and dismay has 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 has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

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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