Jeremiah 8:13–22

¹³“ ‘ “I will take away their harvest,”

announces the Lord.

“There will not be any grapes on the vines.

The trees will not bear any figs.

The leaves on the trees will dry up.

What I have given them

will be taken away from them.” ’ ”

¹⁴Why are we sitting here?

Let’s gather together!

Let’s run to the cities that have high walls around them!

Let’s die there!

The Lord our God has sentenced us to death.

He has given us poisoned water to drink.

That’s because we’ve sinned against him.

¹⁵We hoped peace would come.

But nothing good has happened to us.

We hoped we would finally be healed.

But all we got was terror.

¹⁶When our enemy’s horses snort,

the noise is heard all the way from Dan.

When their stallions neigh,

the whole land trembles with fear.

They have come to destroy

the land and everything in it.

The city and everyone who lives there will be destroyed.

¹⁷“People of Judah, I will send poisonous snakes among you.

No one will be able to charm them.

And they will bite you,”

announces the Lord.

¹⁸Lord, my heart is weak inside me.

You comfort me when I’m sad.

¹⁹Listen to the cries of my people

from a land far away.

They cry out, “Isn’t the Lord in Zion?

Isn’t its King there anymore?”

The Lord says, “Why have they made me so angry

by worshiping their wooden gods?

Why have they made me angry

with their worthless statues

of gods from other lands?”

²⁰The people say, “The harvest is over.

The summer has ended.

And we still haven’t been saved.”

²¹My people are crushed, so I am crushed.

I sob, and I am filled with horror.

²²Isn’t there any healing lotion in Gilead?

Isn’t there a doctor there?

Then why doesn’t someone heal

the wounds of my people?