Jeremiah 8
Lexham English Bible
8 “At that time,” declares[a] 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. 2 And 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. 3 And death will be preferred to life by all the remaining of this evil clan[b] in all the remaining places where I have driven them away,” declares[c] Yahweh.
Yahweh Questions His People
4 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus asks[d] Yahweh:
“Do men fall and not stand up?
If one turns away does he not return?
5 Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in enduring apostasy?
They have kept hold of deceit, they have refused to return.[e]
6 I 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.
7 Even 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[f] of Yahweh.
8 How can you say, ‘We are wise and the law of Yahweh is with us’?
Look, surely the lying stylus of the scribes[g] has made it a lie.
9 The 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?
10 Therefore 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.
11 And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly,
saying,[h] ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing?
What’s worse,[i] they were not ashamed at all,
and they did not know to feel humiliated.
Therefore[j] 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,”[k] declares[l] 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
14 Why 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.
15 We 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.
17 For look, I am letting loose among you snakes,
adders for which there is no incantation,
and they will bite you,” declares[m] Yahweh.
18 “My comfort is gone from me,
sorrow is on me,
my heart is sick.
19 Look, 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?”
20 The harvest has passed,
the summer has come to an end,
and we have not received help.[n]
Yahweh’s Lament
21 “Because of the wound of the daughter of my people I am broken down,
I mourn, horror has seized me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no healer there?
Why, then, has the healing of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:1 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 8:3 Or “family”
- Jeremiah 8:3 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 8:4 Or “says”
- Jeremiah 8:5 Or “repent”
- Jeremiah 8:7 Or “law”
- Jeremiah 8:8 Literally “stylus of lie of scribes”
- Jeremiah 8:11 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 8:12 Or “also”
- Jeremiah 8:12 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 8:13 Literally “I will take away, I will make an end to them”
- Jeremiah 8:13 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 8:17 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 8:20 Or “been saved”
Jeremiah 8
Christian Standard Bible
Death over Life
8 “At that time”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.(A) 2 They will be exposed(B) to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky,(C) which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the soil’s surface.(D) 3 Death will be chosen over life(E) by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them.”(F) This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
4 “You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:
Do people fall and not get up again?(G)
If they turn away, do they not return?
5 Why have these people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They take hold of deceit;(H)
they refuse to return.(I)
6 I have paid careful attention.
They do not speak what is right.
No one regrets his evil,
asking, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone has stayed his course
like a horse rushing into battle.(J)
7 Even storks in the sky
know their seasons.
Turtledoves, swallows, and cranes[a]
are aware of their migration,
but my people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.(K)
Punishment for Judah’s Leaders
8 “How can you claim, ‘We are wise;
the law of the Lord is with us’?
In fact, the lying pen of scribes(L)
has produced falsehood.
9 The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and snared.
They have rejected the word of the Lord,(M)
so what wisdom do they really have?
10 Therefore, I will give(N) their wives to other men,
their fields to new occupants,
for from the least to the greatest,(O)
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11 They have treated the brokenness
of my dear[b] people superficially,
claiming, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably?
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation.
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse,”(P)
says the Lord.
13 “I will gather them and bring them to an end.”[c](Q)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither.
Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”
God’s People Unrepentant
14 Why are we just sitting here?
Gather together; let’s enter the fortified cities
and perish there,[d]
for the Lord our God has destroyed[e] us.
He has given us poisoned water to drink,(R)
because we have sinned against the Lord.(S)
15 We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good;
for a time of healing, but there was only terror.(T)
16 From Dan, the snorting of horses is heard.
At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds,(U)
the whole land quakes.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and all its residents.
17 Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you,
poisonous vipers(V) that cannot be charmed.(W)
They will bite you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Lament over Judah
18 My joy has flown away;
grief has settled on me.
My heart is sick.(X)
19 Listen—the cry of my dear people
from a faraway land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,(Y)
her King not within her?”
Why have they angered me
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?(Z)
20 Harvest has passed, summer has ended,
but we have not been saved.
21 I am broken by the brokenness
of my dear people.(AA)
I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(AB)
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear people
not come about?
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