Jeremiah 8
Expanded Bible
8 “‘The Lord says: At that time they will ·remove [L bring out] from their tombs the bones of Judah’s kings and ·officers [princes], priests and prophets, and the ·people [inhabitants] of Jerusalem. 2 The bones will be spread on the ground under the sun, moon, and ·stars [L the hosts of heaven] that the people loved and served and went after and searched for and ·worshiped [bowed down to]. No one will gather up the bones and bury them. So they will be like dung on the ground. 3 ·I will force the people of Judah to leave their homes and their land. Those of this evil family who are not dead will wish they were [L Death will be preferred to life by all the remnant of those who remain from this evil clan in all the places where I have driven them], says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].’
Sin and Punishment
4 “Say to them [C the people of Judah]: ‘This is what the Lord says:
When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
And when someone goes the wrong way, doesn’t he turn back?
5 Why, then, have the people of Jerusalem gone the wrong way
and not turned back?
They ·believe their own lies [persisted in deceit/treachery]
and refuse to turn back.
6 I have ·listened to them very carefully [paid attention and listened],
but they do not say what is ·right [honest].
They do not ·feel sorry about their wicked ways [L repent of evil],
saying, “What have I done?”
Each person ·goes his own way [runs his course],
like a horse ·charging [plunging] into a battle.
7 Even the storks in the ·sky [heavens]
know ·the right times to do things [their appointed times].
The ·doves [turtledoves], ·swifts [or swallows], and ·thrushes [or cranes]
·know [observe] when it is time to ·migrate [return].
But my people don’t know
·what the Lord wants them to do [L the ordinances/judgments of the Lord].
8 “‘·You keep saying [L How can you say…?], “We are wise,
·because we have the teachings of the Lord [L and the teachings/laws/instructions of the Lord are with us].”
But actually, ·those who explain the Scriptures
have written lies with their pens [L the false pens of the scribes have made it a lie].
9 These wise teachers ·refused to listen to [L rejected] the word of the Lord,
so ·they are not really wise at all [L what wisdom is in them?].
They will be ·ashamed [humiliated].
They will be ·shocked [stunned; astonished] and trapped.
10 So I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to ·new owners [or conquerors].
Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,
is greedy for ·money [unjust gain].
Even the prophets and priests
all ·tell lies [act falsely; are deceptive; 6:13].
11 They tried to heal my people’s ·serious injuries [fracture]
as if they were small wounds.
They said, “·It’s all right, it’s all right [L Peace, peace].”
But ·really, it is not all right [L there is no peace; 6:14].
12 They should be ashamed of the ·terrible way they act [abominations they do],
but they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t even know how to blush [C about their sins].
So they will fall, along with ·everyone else [L those who fall].
They will ·be thrown to the ground [stumble] ·when [L at the time] I punish them, says the Lord [6:15].
13 “‘I will ·take away their crops [L gather them; or bring an end to them], says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine
and no figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves will dry up.
I will take away what I gave them.’”
14 “Why are we just sitting here?
Let’s ·get [gather] together!
We have sinned against the Lord,
so he has given us poisoned water to drink.
Come, let’s ·run [L go] to the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities.
The Lord our God has ·decided that we must die [doomed us],
so let’s ·die [meet our doom] there.
15 We hoped to have peace,
but ·nothing good has come [L there is none].
We hoped for a time when he would heal us,
but only terror has come.
16 From the land of Dan [C in the far north of Israel, the direction from which the Babylonians attacked],
the snorting of its [C the enemy’s] horses is heard.
The ·ground [earth] shakes from the neighing of their ·large horses [stallions].
They have come and ·destroyed [L consumed]
the land and everything in it,
the city and all ·who live there [its inhabitants].”
17 “Look! I am sending poisonous snakes [C to attack you].
These ·snakes [vipers] cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Sadness
18 God, ·you are my comfort when I am very sad [L my cheerfulness is gone; grief has come on me]
and ·when I am afraid [L my heart is sick].
19 Listen to the ·sound [L cry of distress] of ·my people [L the daughter of my people].
They cry from a faraway land:
“Isn’t the Lord still in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]?
Isn’t ·Jerusalem’s [L its] king still there?”
But God says, “Why did the people make me angry ·by worshiping idols [L with their images],
useless foreign idols?”
20 And the people say, “Harvest time is over;
summer has ended,
and we have not been ·saved [rescued].”
21 Because my people are ·crushed [broken; fractured], I am ·crushed [broken; fractured].
I ·cry loudly [mourn; lament; wail] and ·am afraid for them [L horror has seized me].
22 Isn’t there balm [C the resin of the storax tree used as medicine] in the land of Gilead [C southern section of the Transjordan region]?
Isn’t there a doctor there?
So why ·aren’t the hurts of my people healed [L is there no new skin on the wound of the daughter of my people]?
Jeremiah 8
Amplified Bible
The Sin and Treachery of Judah
8 “At that time,” says the Lord, “they [the Babylonian army] will bring out from their graves the [a]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. 2 They will [carelessly scatter and] spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like [b]dung on the face of the earth. 3 And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to which I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Moreover [Jeremiah], you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“Do men fall and not rise up again?
Does one turn away [from God] and not repent and return [to Him]?
5
“Why then has this people of Jerusalem
Turned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]?
They hold tightly to [c]deceit (idolatry);
They refuse to repent and return [to God].
6
“I have listened and heard,
But they have spoken what is not right;
No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his [individual] course,
As the horse rushes like a torrent into battle.
7
“Even the stork in the sky
Knows her seasons [of migration],
And the turtledove, the swallow and the crane
Observe the time of their return.
But My people do not know
The law of the Lord.
8
“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the Lord is with us [and we are learned in its language and teachings]’?
Behold, [the truth is that] the lying pen of the scribes
Has made the law into a lie [a mere code of ceremonial observances].(A)
9
“The wise men are shamed,
They are dismayed and caught.
Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the Lord,
And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?
10
“Therefore I will give their wives to others
And their fields to new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is greedy for [unjust] gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit and deals in corruption.
11
“For they have treated the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
When there is no peace.
12
“Were they ashamed because of the extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things they had done?
They were not at all ashamed,
And they did not know how to blush.
Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time of their punishment they shall be overthrown,”
Says the Lord.(B)
13
“I will gather and snatch them away [utterly consuming them],” says the Lord.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
Nor figs on the fig tree,
And even the leaf will wither;
And the things that I have given them will pass away [by the hand of those whom I have appointed].”’”(C)
14
Why are we sitting still [the people wonder]?
Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities
And let us die there,
For the Lord our God has decreed our ruin
And given us bitter and poisonous water to drink,
Because we have sinned against the Lord.
15
We waited for peace and salvation, but no good came,
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16
The snorting of [Nebuchadnezzar’s] horses is heard from Dan [on Palestine’s northern border].
At the sound of the neighing of his strong stallions
The whole land quakes;
For they come and devour the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who live in it.
17
“For behold, I am sending serpents among you,
Vipers which cannot be charmed,
And they will bite you,” says the Lord.
18
Oh, that I (Jeremiah) could find comfort from my sorrow [for my grief is beyond healing],
My heart is sick and faint within me!
19
Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]:
“Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King within her?”
[But the Lord answers] “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?”
20
“The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over,
But we are not saved,” [comes the voice of the people again].
21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken;
I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.
22
Is there no balm in [d]Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:1 The graves were opened to get any treasure they might contain, but the bones were scattered in order to humiliate and intimidate the Jews.
- Jeremiah 8:2 The man-made gods of the stars and the moon and the sun were of no help to their worshipers.
- Jeremiah 8:5 Idolatry is deceitful because in their idolatry men and women worship that which is false and worthless. It deludes the worshipers and causes them to believe a lie.
- Jeremiah 8:22 A scenic, fertile mountain region east of the Jordan River famous for its medicinal herbs and spices.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
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