Jeremiah 8:18-9:2

New International Reader's Version

¹⁸ Lord, my heart is weak inside me.
    You comfort me when I’m sad.
¹⁹ Listen to the cries of my people
    from a land far away.
They cry out, “Isn’t the Lord in Zion?
    Isn’t its King there anymore?”

The Lord says, “Why have they made me so angry
    by worshiping their wooden gods?
Why have they made me angry
    with their worthless statues
    of gods from other lands?”

²⁰ The people say, “The harvest is over.
    The summer has ended.
    And we still haven’t been saved.”

²¹ My people are crushed, so I am crushed.
    I mourn, and I am filled with horror.
²² Isn’t there any healing lotion in Gilead?
    Isn’t there a doctor there?
Then why doesn’t someone heal
    the wounds of my people?

9 I wish my head were a spring of water!
    I wish my eyes were a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
    for my people who have been killed.
² I wish I had somewhere to go in the desert
    where a traveler could stay!
Then I could leave my people.
    I could get away from them.
All of them commit adultery by worshiping other gods.
    They aren’t faithful to the Lord.