Jeremiah 8
Legacy Standard Bible
The Faithlessness of Jerusalem
8 “At that time,” declares Yahweh, “they will (A)bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. 2 And they will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the (B)host of heaven, which they 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 (C)or buried; (D)they will be as dung on the face of the ground. 3 And (E)death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the (F)places to which I have banished them,” declares Yahweh of hosts.
4 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh,
“Do men (G)fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not [a]turn back?
5 Why then has this people, Jerusalem,
[b](H)Turned away in continual faithlessness?
They (I)hold fast to deceit;
They (J)refuse to return.
6 I (K)have given heed and heard,
They have spoken what is not right;
(L)No man regretted his evil,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his course,
Like a (M)horse charging into the battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
(N)Knows her seasons;
And the (O)turtledove and the swift and the crane
Keep the time of their [c]migration;
But (P)My people do not know
The legal judgment of Yahweh.
8 “(Q)How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of Yahweh is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
Has made it into a lie.
9 The wise men are (R)put to shame;
They are dismayed and captured;
Behold, they have (S)rejected the word of Yahweh,
And what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will (T)give their wives to others,
Their fields to [d]new possessors,
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is (U)greedy for gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices lying.
11 They (V)heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
12 Were they (W)ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They certainly were not ashamed,
And they did not know how to feel dishonor;
Therefore they shall (X)fall among those who fall;
At the (Y)time of their [e]punishment they shall be brought down,”
Says Yahweh.
13 “I will (Z)surely gather them up,” declares Yahweh;
“There will be (AA)no grapes on the vine
And (AB)no figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf will wither;
And what I have given them will pass away.”’”
14 Why are we sitting still?
(AC)Gather yourselves, and let us (AD)go into the fortified cities
And let us be silent there
Because Yahweh our God has silenced us
And given us [f](AE)poisoned water to drink,
For (AF)we have sinned against Yahweh.
15 We (AG)waited for peace, but there was no good;
For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16 From (AH)Dan is heard the snorting of his horses;
At the sound of the neighing of his (AI)valiant steeds
The whole land quakes;
And they come and (AJ)devour the land as well as its fullness,
The city and its inhabitants.
17 “For behold, I am (AK)sending serpents against you,
Vipers, for which there is (AL)no charm,
And they will bite you,” declares Yahweh.
Sorrow over Zion
18 [g]My (AM)sorrow is beyond healing;
My (AN)heart is faint within me!
19 Behold, the sound! The cry of the daughter of my people from a (AO)distant land:
“Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why have they (AP)provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign [h](AQ)idols?”
20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended,
And we are not saved.”
21 For the (AR)brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;
I (AS)mourn, desolation has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no (AT)balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
(AU)Why then has not the [i]health of the daughter of my people gone up?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:4 Or repent
- Jeremiah 8:5 Or Turned away in continually turning
- Jeremiah 8:7 Lit coming
- Jeremiah 8:10 Lit possessing ones
- Jeremiah 8:12 Or visitation, so in Jer
- Jeremiah 8:14 Or gall
- Jeremiah 8:18 As in Gr and versions
- Jeremiah 8:19 Lit vanities
- Jeremiah 8:22 Or healing
Jeremiah 8
New Living Translation
8 “In that day,” says the Lord, “the enemy will break open the graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests, prophets, and common people of Jerusalem. 2 They will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure. 3 And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!
Deception by False Prophets
4 “Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
5 Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?
Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?
They cling tightly to their lies
and will not turn around.
6 I listen to their conversations
and don’t hear a word of truth.
Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?
Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”?
No! All are running down the path of sin
as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!
7 Even the stork that flies across the sky
knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.[a]
They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
They do not know the Lord’s laws.
8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,”
when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
9 These wise teachers will fall
into the trap of their own foolishness,
for they have rejected the word of the Lord.
Are they so wise after all?
10 I will give their wives to others
and their farms to strangers.
From the least to the greatest,
their lives are ruled by greed.
Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.
They are all frauds.
11 They offer superficial treatments
for my people’s mortal wound.
They give assurances of peace
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions?
Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!
Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.
They will be brought down when I punish them,
says the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them.
There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes.
Their fruit trees will all die.
Whatever I gave them will soon be gone.
I, the Lord, have spoken!’
14 “Then the people will say,
‘Why should we wait here to die?
Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there.
For the Lord our God has decreed our destruction
and has given us a cup of poison to drink
because we sinned against the Lord.
15 We hoped for peace, but no peace came.
We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’
16 “The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heard
all the way from the land of Dan in the north!
The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—
cities and people alike.
17 I will send these enemy troops among you
like poisonous snakes you cannot charm.
They will bite you, and you will die.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah Weeps for Sinful Judah
18 My grief is beyond healing;
my heart is broken.
19 Listen to the weeping of my people;
it can be heard all across the land.
“Has the Lord abandoned Jerusalem?[b]” the people ask.
“Is her King no longer there?”
“Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idols
and their worthless foreign gods?” says the Lord.
20 “The harvest is finished,
and the summer is gone,” the people cry,
“yet we are not saved!”
21 I hurt with the hurt of my people.
I mourn and am overcome with grief.
22 Is there no medicine in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why is there no healing
for the wounds of my people?
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
