Jeremiah 8–9

8At that time, saith the Lord, ^athey shall bring out the bones of ^bthe kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: ²And ^cthey shall spread them before ^dthe sun, and the moon, and ^dall the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and ^dewhom they have worshipped: ^fthey shall not be gathered, ^gnor be buried; ^hthey shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. ³And ⁱdeath shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all ^kthe places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁴Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; ^lShall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? ⁵Why then is this people of Jerusalem ^mslidden back by a perpetual ⁿbacksliding? ^othey hold fast deceit, ^pthey refuse to return. ⁶I ^qhearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to ^rhis course, as the horse ^srusheth ^tinto the battle. ⁷Yea, ^uthe ^vstork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and ^ythe turtle and ^zthe crane and ^zthe swallow observe the time of their coming; but ^uamy people know not the judgment of the Lord. ⁸How do ye say, We are wise, and ^bthe law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly ^||in vain made he it; ^cthe pen of the scribes is in vain. ^9||dThe wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and ^etaken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and ^†what wisdom is in them? ¹⁰Therefore ^fwill I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. ¹¹For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. ¹²Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, ^gthey were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. ^13||I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: ^hthere shall be ^ikno grapes on the vine, ^knor figs on the fig tree, and ^lthe leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. ¹⁴Why do we sit still? ^massemble yourselves, and ^mlet us enter into the defenced cities, and ⁿlet us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us ^owater of ^||gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. ^15pWe looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of ^qhealth, and behold trouble! ^16rThe snorting of his horses was heard ^sfrom Dan: ^tthe whole land trembled at the sound of ^uthe neighing of ^vhis strong ones; for they are come, and ^vvhave devoured the land, and ^†all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein. ¹⁷For, behold, ^wI will send serpents, ^xcockatrices, among you, which will not be ^ycharmed, and ^zthey shall bite you, saith the Lord.

¹⁸When I would comfort myself against sorrow, ^amy heart is faint ^†in me. ¹⁹Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people ^†because of them that dwell in ^ca far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not ^bher king in her? Why have they ^dprovoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? ²⁰The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. ^21eFor the hurt of ^efthe daughter of my people am I hurt; ^gI am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. ²²Is there no ^hbalm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not ⁱthe health of ^fthe daughter of my people ^†recovered?

9^†Oh ^athat my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,

That I might weep day and night for the slain of ^bthe daughter of my people!

²Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of ^bbwayfaring men;

That I might leave my people, and go from them!

For ^cthey be all adulterers, ^dan assembly of ^etreacherous men.

³And ^fthey bend their tongues like their bow for lies:

But ^gthey are not valiant for ^hthe truth upon the earth;

For they proceed from evil to evil,

And ^hithey know not me, saith the Lord.

^4kTake ye heed every one of his ^||neighbour,

And ^ktrust ye not in any brother:

For every brother ^lwill utterly supplant,

And every neighbour ^mwill walk with slanders.

⁵And they will ^||deceive every one his neighbour,

And will not speak the truth:

They have taught their tongue to speak lies,

And weary themselves ⁿto commit iniquity.

⁶Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit;

^oThrough deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.

⁷Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,

Behold, I will ^pmelt them, and ^qtry them;

For ^rhow shall I do for ^bthe daughter of my people?

^8fsTheir tongue is as an arrow shot out; ^tit speaketh deceit:

One ^uspeaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth,

But ^†in heart ^vhe layeth ^||his wait.

^9wShall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord:

Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing,

And ^xfor the ^||yhabitations of the wilderness a lamentation,

Because they are ^||zburned up, so that none can pass through them;

Neither can men hear the voice of the cattle;

^†Both ^athe fowl of the heavens and the beast

^aAre fled; they are gone.

¹¹And I will make Jerusalem ^bheaps, and ^ca den of ^ddragons;

And I will make the cities of Judah ^†desolate, without an inhabitant.

^12eWho is the wise man, that may understand this?

And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it,

For what the land perisheth

And ^fis burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

¹³And the Lord saith, Because ^gthey have forsaken my law which I set before them,

And have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

¹⁴But ^hhave walked after the ^||himagination of their own heart,

And after Baalim, ⁱwhich their fathers taught them:

¹⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;

Behold, ^kI will feed them, even this people, ^lwith wormwood,

And ^mgive them water of gall to drink.

¹⁶ⁿI ^owill scatter them also among the heathen, ^pwhom neither they nor their fathers have known:

And ^nqI will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

¹⁷Thus saith the Lord of hosts,

Consider ye, and call for ^rthe mourning women, that they may come;

And send for cunning women, that they may come:

¹⁸And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us,

That ^sour eyes may run down with tears,

And our eyelids gush out with waters.

¹⁹For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ^tHow are we spoiled!

We are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land,

Because our dwellings have ^ucast us out.

²⁰Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women,

And let your ear receive the word of his mouth,

And teach your daughters wailing,

And every one her neighbour lamentation.

²¹For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces,

To cut off ^vthe children ^wfrom without, and ^vthe young men ^wfrom the streets.

²²Speak, Thus saith the Lord,

Even the carcases of men shall fall ^xas dung upon the open field,

And as ^ythe handful after the harvestman, and ^znone ^xshall gather them.

²³Thus saith the Lord,

^abLet not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

Neither let the mighty man glory in his might,

Let not the rich man glory in his riches:

^24bBut ^clet him that glorieth glory in this,

That he understandeth and ^dknoweth me,

That I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:

For ^ein these things I delight, saith the Lord.

²⁵Behold, ^fthe days come, saith the Lord,

That ^gI will ^†punish all them which are ^gcircumcised with the uncircumcised;

^26hEgypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab,

And all that are ^†in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness:

For all these nations are uncircumcised,

And all the house of Israel ⁱare uncircumcised in the heart.