Jeremiah 8:4-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Blind Perversity of the Whole Nation
4 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When people fall, do they not get up again?
If they go astray, do they not turn back?(A)
5 Why then has this people[a] turned away
in perpetual faithlessness?
They have held fast to deceit;
they have refused to return.(B)
6 I have given heed and listened,
but they do not speak honestly;
no one repents of wickedness,
saying, “What have I done!”
All of them turn to their own course
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.(C)
7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows its times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane[b]
observe the time of their coming,
but my people do not know
the ordinance of the Lord.(D)
Jeremiah 8:4-7
International Standard Version
A Stubborn People
4 “You are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“Will a person fall down and then not get up?
Will someone turn away[a] and then not turn back again?[b]
5 Why has this people turned away?[c]
Why does Jerusalem continue in apostasy?
They hold on to deceit and refuse to repent.
6 I’ve listened and I’ve heard,
and what they say is not right.
No one repents of his evil and says,
‘What have I done?’
“They all turn to their own course
like a horse racing into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons,
and the dove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time for migration.
But my people don’t know
the requirements[d] of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:4 Or repent
- Jeremiah 8:4 Or not repent
- Jeremiah 8:5 Lit. people committed apostasy
- Jeremiah 8:7 I.e. the behavior God expects of his people
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