Jeremiah 8–9

8“ ‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones^c of the people of Jerusalem will be removed^d from their graves. ²They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served^e and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.^f They will not be gathered up or buried,^g but will be like dung lying on the ground.^{h 3}Wherever I banish them,ⁱ all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,^j declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

⁴“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up?^k

When someone turns away,^l do they not return?

⁵Why then have these people turned away?

Why does Jerusalem always turn away?

They cling to deceit;^m

they refuse to return.ⁿ

⁶I have listened^o attentively,

but they do not say what is right.

None of them repent^p of their wickedness,

saying, “What have I done?”

Each pursues their own course^q

like a horse charging into battle.

⁷Even the stork in the sky

knows her appointed seasons,

and the dove, the swift and the thrush

observe the time of their migration.

But my people do not know^r

the requirements of the Lord.

⁸“ ‘How can you say, “We are wise,

for we have the law^s of the Lord,”

when actually the lying pen of the scribes

has handled it falsely?

⁹The wise^t will be put to shame;

they will be dismayed^u and trapped.^v

Since they have rejected the word^w of the Lord,

what kind of wisdom^x do they have?

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to other men

and their fields to new owners.^y

From the least to the greatest,

all are greedy for gain;^z

prophets^a and priests alike,

all practice deceit.^b

¹¹They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

“Peace, peace,” they say,

when there is no peace.^c

¹²Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame^d at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when they are punished,^e

says the Lord.^f

¹³“ ‘I will take away their harvest,

declares the Lord.

There will be no grapes on the vine.^g

There will be no figs^h on the tree,

and their leaves will wither.ⁱ

What I have given them

will be taken^j from them.^a’ ”

¹⁴Why are we sitting here?

Gather together!

Let us flee to the fortified cities^k

and perish there!

For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish

and given us poisoned water^l to drink,

because we have sinned^m against him.

¹⁵We hoped for peaceⁿ

but no good has come,

for a time of healing

but there is only terror.^o

¹⁶The snorting of the enemy’s horses^p

is heard from Dan;^q

at the neighing of their stallions

the whole land trembles.^r

They have come to devour^s

the land and everything in it,

the city and all who live there.

¹⁷“See, I will send venomous snakes^t among you,

vipers that cannot be charmed,^u

and they will bite you,”

declares the Lord.

¹⁸You who are my Comforter^b in sorrow,

my heart is faint^v within me.

¹⁹Listen to the cry of my people

from a land far away:^w

“Is the Lord not in Zion?

Is her King^x no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused^y my anger with their images,

with their worthless^z foreign idols?”^a

²⁰“The harvest is past,

the summer has ended,

and we are not saved.”

²¹Since my people are crushed,^b I am crushed;

I mourn,^c and horror grips me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead?^d

Is there no physician^e there?

Why then is there no healing^f

for the wound of my people?

9^aOh, that my head were a spring of water

and my eyes a fountain of tears!^g

I would weep^h day and night

for the slain of my people.ⁱ

²Oh, that I had in the desert^j

a lodging place for travelers,

so that I might leave my people

and go away from them;

for they are all adulterers,^k

a crowd of unfaithful^l people.

³“They make ready their tongue

like a bow, to shoot lies;^m

it is not by truth

that they triumph^b in the land.

They go from one sin to another;

they do not acknowledgeⁿ me,”

declares the Lord.

⁴“Beware of your friends;^o

do not trust anyone in your clan.^p

For every one of them is a deceiver,^cq

and every friend a slanderer.^r

⁵Friend deceives friend,^s

and no one speaks the truth.^t

They have taught their tongues to lie;^u

they weary themselves with sinning.

⁶You^d live in the midst of deception;^v

in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”

declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine^w and test^x them,

for what else can I do

because of the sin of my people?

⁸Their tongue^y is a deadly arrow;

it speaks deceitfully.

With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,^z

but in their hearts they set traps^a for them.^b

⁹Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge^c myself

on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰I will weep and wail for the mountains

and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.^d

They are desolate and untraveled,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard.

The birds^e have all fled

and the animals are gone.

¹¹“I will make Jerusalem a heap^f of ruins,

a haunt of jackals;^g

and I will lay waste the towns of Judah^h

so no one can live there.”ⁱ

¹²Who is wise^j enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

¹³The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.^{k 14}Instead, they have followed^l the stubbornness of their hearts;^m they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter foodⁿ and drink poisoned water.^{o 16}I will scatter them among nations^p that neither they nor their ancestors have known,^q and I will pursue them with the sword^r until I have made an end of them.”^s

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^t to come;

send for the most skillful of them.

¹⁸Let them come quickly

and wail over us

till our eyes overflow with tears

and water streams from our eyelids.^u

¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

‘How ruined^v we are!

How great is our shame!

We must leave our land

because our houses are in ruins.’ ”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;

open your ears to the words of his mouth.^w

Teach your daughters how to wail;

teach one another a lament.^x

²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^y

and has entered our fortresses;

it has removed the children from the streets

and the young men^z from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“ ‘Dead bodies will lie

like dung^a on the open field,

like cut grain behind the reaper,

with no one to gather them.’ ”

²³This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom^b

or the strong boast of their strength^c

or the rich boast of their riches,^d

²⁴but let the one who boasts boast^e about this:

that they have the understanding to know^f me,

that I am the Lord,^g who exercises kindness,^h

justice and righteousnessⁱ on earth,

for in these I delight,”

declares the Lord.

²⁵“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh^j—²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.^ek For all these nations are really uncircumcised,^l and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.^m”