Jeremiah 8:4-7
English Standard Version
Sin and Treachery
4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
(A)When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then has this people (B)turned away
in perpetual (C)backsliding?
(D)They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 (E)I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
(F)like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and (G)the turtledove, (H)swallow, and crane[a]
keep the time of their coming,
(I)but my people know not
the rules[b] of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Jeremiah 8:7 Or just decrees
Jeremiah 8:4-7
New Living Translation
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.
Footnotes
- 8:7 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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.
