Jeremiah 8:4–13

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’ ”