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Jeremiah 8
Lexham English Bible
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
New International Version
Jeremiah 8
New International Version
8 “‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones(A) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed(B) from their graves. 2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served(C) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.(D) They will not be gathered up or buried,(E) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(F) 3 Wherever I banish them,(G) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,(H) declares the Lord Almighty.’
Sin and Punishment
4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?(I)
When someone turns away,(J) do they not return?
5 Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;(K)
they refuse to return.(L)
6 I have listened(M) attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent(N) of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course(O)
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know(P)
the requirements of the Lord.
8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
for we have the law(Q) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
9 The wise(R) will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed(S) and trapped.(T)
Since they have rejected the word(U) of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom(V) do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.(W)
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;(X)
prophets(Y) and priests alike,
all practice deceit.(Z)
11 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.(AA)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame(AB) at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when they are punished,(AC)
says the Lord.(AD)
13 “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.(AE)
There will be no figs(AF) on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.(AG)
What I have given them
will be taken(AH) from them.[a]’”
14 Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities(AI)
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water(AJ) to drink,
because we have sinned(AK) against him.
15 We hoped for peace(AL)
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.(AM)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses(AN)
is heard from Dan;(AO)
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.(AP)
They have come to devour(AQ)
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.
17 “See, I will send venomous snakes(AR) among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,(AS)
and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.
18 You who are my Comforter[b] in sorrow,
my heart is faint(AT) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:(AU)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King(AV) no longer there?”
20 “The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.