Jeremiah 8:13–22

¹³I will gather them and bring them to an end. ^gh

This is the Lord’s declaration.

There will be no grapes on the vine,

no figs on the fig tree,

and even the leaf will wither.

Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.

God’s People Unrepentant

¹⁴Why are we just sitting here?

Gather together; let us enter the fortified cities

and perish there, ⁱ

for the Lord our God has destroyed ^jus.

He has given us poisoned water to drink, ^k

because we have sinned against the Lord. ^l

¹⁵We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good;

for a time of healing, but there was only terror. ^m

¹⁶From Dan the snorting of horses is heard.

At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, ⁿ

the whole land quakes.

They come to devour the land and everything in it,

the city and all its residents.

¹⁷Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you,

poisonous vipers ^othat cannot be charmed. ^p

They will bite you.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Lament over Judah

¹⁸My joy has flown away;

grief has settled on me.

My heart is sick. ^q

¹⁹Listen—the cry of my dear ^rpeople

from a far away land,

“Is the Lord no longer in Zion, ^s

her King not within her?”

Why have they provoked me to anger

with their carved images,

with their worthless foreign idols? ^t

²⁰Harvest has passed, summer has ended,

but we have not been saved.

²¹I am broken by the brokenness

of my dear ^upeople. ^v

I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead? ^w

Is there no physician there?

So why has the healing of my dear ^xpeople

not come about?