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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?[a]” 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?

[b]If only my head were a pool of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
    for all my people who have been slaughtered.
[c]Oh, that I could go away and forget my people
    and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert.
For they are all adulterers—
    a pack of treacherous liars.

Footnotes

  1. 8:19 Hebrew Zion?
  2. 9:1 Verse 9:1 is numbered 8:23 in Hebrew text.
  3. 9:2 Verses 9:2-26 are numbered 9:1-25 in Hebrew text.

18 My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken. 19 Listen to the weeping of my people all across the land.

“Where is the Lord?” they ask. “Has God deserted us?”

“Oh, why have they angered me with their carved idols and strange evil rites?” the Lord replies.

20 “The harvest is finished; the summer is over, and we are not saved.”

21 I weep for the hurt of my people; I stand amazed, silent, dumb with grief. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why doesn’t God do something? Why doesn’t he help?

Oh, that my eyes were a fountain of tears; I would weep forever; I would sob day and night for the slain of my people! Oh, that I could go away and forget them and live in some wayside shack in the desert, for they are all adulterous, treacherous men.