Jeremiah 8

1“At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. 2And they shall be spread ^abefore the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. ^bAnd they shall not be gathered or buried. ^cThey shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3 ^dDeath shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family ^ein all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts.

Sin and Treachery

4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
^fWhen men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5Why then has this people ^gturned away
in perpetual ^hbacksliding?
ⁱThey hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 ^jI have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
^klike a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and ^lthe turtledove, ^mswallow, and crane ▼

▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

keep the time of their coming,
^obut my people know not
the rules ▼

▼Or just decrees

of the Lord.
8 ^q“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
9 ^rThe wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed ^sand taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
10 ^tTherefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone ^uis greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11They have healed ^vthe wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, ^wthey were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
^xTherefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,

says the Lord.
13When I would gather them, declares the Lord,
there are ^yno grapes on the vine,
^znor figs on the fig tree;
^aaeven the leaves are withered,
and what I gave them has passed away from them.” ▼

▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

14 Why do we sit still?
^acGather together; ^adlet us go into the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and has ^aegiven us ^afpoisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 ^agWe looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
16 ^ah“The snorting of their horses is heard ^aifrom Dan;
at the sound of the neighing ^ajof their stallions
^akthe whole land quakes.
They come ^aland devour the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
17For behold, I am sending among you ^amserpents,
adders ^anthat cannot be charmed,
^aoand they shall bite you,”

declares the Lord.

Jeremiah Grieves for His People

18 My joy is gone; grief is upon me; ▼

▼Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

^aqmy heart is sick within me.
19Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
from ^arthe length and breadth of the land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
^asIs her King not in her?”
^at“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
and with their foreign idols?”
20“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.”
21For the wound of ^authe daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
^avI mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no ^awbalm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
not been restored?

Jeremiah 15

The Lord Will Not Relent

1Then the Lord said to me, ^ax“Though ^ayMoses ^azand Samuel ^bastood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^bb“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
3 ^bcI will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^bdthe birds of the air ^beand the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 ^bfAnd I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what ^bgManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

5 ^bh“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
^bior who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 ^bjYou have rejected me, declares the Lord;
^bkyou keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
^blI am weary of relenting.
7 ^bmI have winnowed them with ^bna winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
^bothey did not turn from their ways.
8I have made their widows more in number
than ^bpthe sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon them suddenly.
9 ^bqShe who bore seven has grown feeble;
^brshe has fainted away;
^bsher sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,

declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

10 ^btWoe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! ^buI have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11The Lord said, “Have I not ▼

▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12Can one break iron, iron ^bwfrom the north, and bronze?

13 ^bx“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ^byspoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14I will make you serve your enemies ^bzin a land that you do not know, ^cafor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

15 ^cbO Lord, you know;
^ccremember me and visit me,
^cd, ^ceand take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
^cfknow that ^cgfor your sake I bear reproach.
16Your words were found, ^chand I ate them,
and ^ciyour words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
^cjfor I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 ^ckI did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
^clI sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18Why is my pain unceasing,
^cmmy wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me ^cnlike a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
^co“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall ^cpstand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 ^cqAnd I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
^crbut they shall not prevail over you,
^csfor I am with you
to save you and deliver you,

declares the Lord.
21 ^ctI will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of ^cuthe ruthless.”