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Chapter 8

At that time—oracle of the Lord—the bones of the kings and princes of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves(A) and spread out before the sun, the moon, and the whole host of heaven,[a] which they loved and served, which they followed, consulted, and worshiped. They will not be gathered up for burial, but will lie like dung upon the ground.(B) Death will be preferred to life by all the survivors of this wicked people who remain in any of the places to which I banish them—oracle of the Lord of hosts.

Israel’s Conduct Incomprehensible

    Tell them: Thus says the Lord:
When someone falls, do they not rise again?
    if they turn away, do they not turn back?
Why then do these people resist
    with persistent rebellion?
Why do they cling to deception,
    refuse to turn back?(C)
I have listened closely:
    they speak what is not true;
No one regrets wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Everyone keeps on running their course,
    like a horse dashing into battle.(D)
Even the stork in the sky
    knows its seasons;
Turtledove, swift, and thrush
    observe the time of their return,
But my people do not know
    the order of the Lord.(E)
How can you say, “We are wise,(F)
    we have the law of the Lord”?
See, that has been changed into falsehood
    by the lying pen of the scribes![b]
The wise are put to shame,
    terrified, and trapped;
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
    what sort of wisdom do they have?(G)

Shameless in Their Crimes

10 Therefore, I will give their wives to other men,
    their fields to new owners.
Small and great alike, all are greedy for gain,
    prophet and priest, all practice fraud.(H)
11 They have treated lightly
    the injury to the daughter of my people:[c]
“Peace, peace!” they say,
    though there is no peace.(I)
12 They have acted shamefully; they have done abominable things,
    yet they are not at all ashamed,
    they do not know how to blush.
Hence they shall be among those who fall;
    in their time of punishment they shall stumble,
    says the Lord.(J)

Threats of Punishment

13 I will gather them all in—oracle of the Lord:
    no grapes on the vine,
No figs on the fig trees,
    foliage withered!
Whatever I have given them is gone.
14 Why do we remain here?
    Let us assemble and flee to the fortified cities,
    where we will meet our doom;
For the Lord our God has doomed us,
    he has given us poisoned water to drink,
    because we have sinned against the Lord.(K)
15 We wait for peace to no avail;
    for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.(L)
16 From Dan is heard
    the snorting of horses;
The neighing of stallions
    shakes the whole land.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
    the city and its inhabitants.
17 Yes, I will send against you
    poisonous snakes.
Against them no charm will work
    when they bite you—oracle of the Lord.(M)

The Prophet’s Grief over the People’s Suffering

18 My joy is gone,
    grief is upon me,
    my heart is sick.
19 Listen! the cry of the daughter of my people,
    far and wide in the land!
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,
    is her King no longer in her midst?”
Why do they provoke me with their idols,
    with their foreign nonentities?(N)
20 “The harvest is over, the summer ended,
    but we have not yet been saved!”
21 I am broken by the injury of the daughter of my people.
    I am in mourning; horror has seized me.(O)
22 Is there no balm in Gilead,[d]
    no healer there?
Why does new flesh not grow
    over the wound of the daughter of my people?(P)
23 Oh, that my head were a spring of water,
    my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
    over the slain from the daughter of my people!

Footnotes

  1. 8:2 Host of heaven: the stars, worshiped by other nations and even by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, particularly during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon.
  2. 8:8 Lying pen of the scribes: because the teachings and interpretations of the scribes ran counter to the word of the Lord.
  3. 8:11 Daughter of my people: see note on 4:11.
  4. 8:22 Gilead: a region southeast of the Sea of Galilee noted for its healing balm.

At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the 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:

And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all 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 whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.

How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?

10 Therefore will 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.

11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they 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: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.

17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.

18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.

19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?

20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?