18 You who are my Comforter[a] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint(A) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:(B)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King(C) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused(D) my anger with their images,
    with their worthless(E) foreign idols?”(F)

20 “The harvest is past,
    the summer has ended,
    and we are not saved.”

21 Since my people are crushed,(G) I am crushed;
    I mourn,(H) and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(I)
    Is there no physician(J) there?
Why then is there no healing(K)
    for the wound of my people?

[b]Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!(L)
I would weep(M) day and night
    for the slain of my people.(N)
Oh, that I had in the desert(O)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(P)
    a crowd of unfaithful(Q) people.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.

18 [a]My (A)sorrow is beyond healing,
My (B)heart is faint within me!
19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a (C)distant land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why have they (D)provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign [b](E)idols?”
20 “Harvest is past, summer is over,
And we are not saved.”
21 I am broken over the (F)brokenness of the daughter of my people.
I (G)mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no (H)balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
(I)Why then has not the [c]health of the daughter of my people [d]been restored?

Grief over Zion

[e](J)Oh, that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For those slain of the (K)daughter of my people!
[f](L)Oh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place;
So that I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For all of them are (M)adulterers,
An assembly of (N)treacherous people.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:18 As in LXX and ancient versions
  2. Jeremiah 8:19 Lit futilities
  3. Jeremiah 8:22 Or healing
  4. Jeremiah 8:22 Lit gone up
  5. Jeremiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Heb
  6. Jeremiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Heb