8
1 “At
that time,” says
the LORD, “they
will bring the
bones of the
kings of Judah,
the bones of
his princes, the
bones of the
priests, the bones
of the prophets,
and the bones
of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, out
of their graves.
2 They
will spread them
before the sun,
the moon, and
all the army
of the sky,
which they
have loved, which
they have served,
after which they
have walked, which
they have sought,
and which they
have worshiped.
They will not
be gathered or be
buried. They will
be like dung
on the surface
of the earth.
3 Death
will be chosen
rather than life
by all the
residue that
remain of this
evil family, that
remain in all
the places where
I have driven
them,” says the
LORD of Armies.
4 “Moreover
you shall tell
them, ‘The LORD
says:
“ ‘Do men fall,
and not rise
up again?
Does one turn
away, and not
return?
5 Why
then have the
people of
Jerusalem fallen back
by a perpetual
backsliding?
They cling to
deceit.
They refuse to
return.
6 I
listened and heard,
but they didn’t
say what is
right.
No one repents of
his wickedness,
saying, “What have
I done?”
Everyone turns to
his course,
as a horse
that rushes headlong in
the battle.
7 Yes,
the stork in
the sky knows
her appointed
times.
The turtledove,
the swallow, and
the crane observe
the time of
their coming;
but my
people don’t know
the LORD’s law.
8 “ ‘How
do you say, “We
are wise, and
the LORD’s law
is with us”?
But, behold, the
false pen of
the scribes has
made that a
lie.
9 The
wise men
are disappointed.
They are dismayed
and trapped.
Behold, they have
rejected the LORD’s
word.
What kind of
wisdom is in
them?
10 Therefore
I will give
their wives to others
and their fields
to those who
will possess them.
For everyone from
the least even
to the greatest
is given to
covetousness;
from the prophet
even to the
priest everyone
deals falsely.
11 They
have healed the
hurt of the
daughter of my
people slightly, saying,
“Peace, peace,”
when there is no
peace.
12 Were
they ashamed when
they had committed
abomination?
No, they were
not at all
ashamed.
They couldn’t blush.
Therefore they
will fall among
those who fall.
In the time
of their
visitation they
will be cast
down, says the
LORD.
13 “ ‘I
will utterly
consume them, says
the LORD.
No grapes will
be on the
vine,
no figs on
the fig tree,
and the leaf
will fade.
The things that
I have given
them
will pass away
from them.’ ”
14 “Why
do we sit
still?
Assemble yourselves!
Let’s enter into the
fortified cities,
and let’s be
silent there;
for the LORD
our God has
put us to
silence,
and given us
poisoned water to
drink,
because we have
sinned against the
LORD.
15 We
looked for peace,
but no good came;
and for a
time of healing,
and behold, dismay!
16 The
snorting of his
horses is heard
from Dan.
The whole land trembles
at the sound
of the neighing
of his strong ones;
for they have
come, and
have devoured the land
and all that
is in it,
the city and
those who dwell
therein.”
17 “For,
behold, I will
send serpents,
adders among you,
which will not
be charmed;
and they will
bite you,” says
the LORD.
18 Oh that
I could comfort
myself against
sorrow!
My heart is
faint within me.
19 Behold,
the voice of
the cry of
the daughter of
my people from
a land that is very
far off:
“Isn’t the LORD
in Zion?
Isn’t her King in
her?”
“Why have they
provoked me to
anger with their
engraved images,
and with foreign
idols?”
20 “The
harvest is past.
The summer has
ended,
and we are
not saved.”
21 For
the hurt of
the daughter of
my people, I am
hurt.
I mourn.
Dismay has taken
hold of me.
22 Is
there no balm
in Gilead?
Is there no
physician there?
Why then isn’t
the health of the
daughter of my
people recovered?