Jeremiah 8

1 Yahweh says, “At the time [that your corpses are scattered on the ground], [your enemies will] break open the graves of your kings and [other] officials who lived in Judah, and the graves of your priests and prophets and other people who lived there.

“At that time,” says the LORD, “they will bring the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.

2 They will take out their bones [from their graves] and [dishonor them by] scattering them on the ground under the sun and the moon and the stars— those are the gods which my people loved and served and worshiped. No one will gather up their bones and bury them [again]; they will remain scattered on the ground like dung.

They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, after which they have walked, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried. They will be like dung on the surface of the earth.

3 And all the people of this wicked nation [who are still alive and] whom I have exiled to other countries will say, ‘We would prefer to die than to continue to stay alive [here in these countries].’ [That will be true because I], Yahweh, have said it.”

Death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the LORD of Armies.

4 [Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah], tell the people that this is what [I], Yahweh, am saying to them: ‘When people fall down, they get up again, do they not [RHQ]? When people are going along a road and find out that they are walking on the wrong road, they go back [and find the correct road], do they not [RHQ]?

“Moreover you shall tell them, ‘The LORD says: “‘Do men fall, and not rise up again? Does one turn away, and not return?

5 [Yes, they do], so why do these people [of Judah] continue [trusting in those idols that have deceived them]? They continue turning away from me, [even though I have warned them].

Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit. They refuse to return.

6 I have listened carefully [DOU] [to what they say], but they do not say what they should say. Not one of them is sorry for having sinned. No one says, “I have done [RHQ] wicked things.” They are [sinning and] doing what they want to as fast as [SIM] a horse that is running into a battle.

I listened and heard, but they did not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.

7 All the birds [that fly south for the (winter/cold season)] know the time that they need to fly south, and they all return at the right time the following year. But my people [are not like those birds]! They do not know what [I], Yahweh, require them to do.

Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times. The turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people do not know the LORD’s law.

8 Your men who teach you [the laws that Moses wrote] have been saying false things [about those laws]. [So], why [RHQ] do they [continue] saying, “We are [very] wise [because] we have the laws of Yahweh”?

“‘How do you say, “We are wise, and the LORD’s law is with us”? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie.

9 Those teachers, who think that [IRO] they are wise, will be ashamed/disgraced and dismayed when they are taken [to other countries by their enemies] because they sinned by rejecting what I told them. Truly, they were not [RHQ] very wise to do that!

The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected the LORD’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?

10 So, I will give their wives to other men; I will give their fields to [the enemy soldiers] who conquer them. All the people, including those who are important and those who are not important, deceive [others] in order to obtain their possessions. Even [my] prophets and my priests do that.

Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

11 [They act as though the sins of my people] are not serious, [like] [MET] wounds that do not need to be cleaned and bandaged. They tell the people that everything will go well with them, [but that is not true]; things will not go well with them.

They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

12 They should be [RHQ] ashamed when they do disgusting things [RHQ], but they do not even know how to show on their faces that they are ashamed [about their sins]. So, [they will be killed, and] their corpses [also] will lie among the corpses of others who have been slaughtered [by their enemies]. They will be killed when I punish them.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed. They could not blush. Therefore they will fall among those who fall. In the time of their visitation they will be cast down, says the LORD.

13 I will [allow their enemies to] take away the figs and grapes that the people would have harvested from their fields. Their fruit trees will all wither. They will not receive [all] the blessings that I prepared for them. [This will certainly happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.’”

“‘I will utterly consume them, says the LORD. No grapes will be on the vine, no figs on the fig tree, and the leaf will fade. The things that I have given them will pass away from them.’”

14 [Then the people will say], “(Why should we wait here [in these small towns]?/We should not wait here [in these small towns].) [RHQ]! We should go to the cities that have high walls around them, [but even if we do that] we will be killed there, because Yahweh our God has decided that we must be destroyed; [it is as though] [MET] he has given us a cup of poison to drink, because we sinned against him.

“Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves! Let’s enter into the fortified cities, and let’s be silent there; for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

15 We hoped/desired that things would go well for us, but things have not gone well. We hoped that bad things would not happen to us any more, but only things that terrify us [are happening to us].

We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!

16 People [far north in Israel] in [the city of] Dan can already hear the snorting of the horses of their enemies [who are preparing to attack us]. [It is as though] the entire land [of Judah] is shaking as their army approaches; they are coming to destroy our land and everything in it, the people and the cities.”

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

17 [Yahweh says], “I will send [those enemy soldiers to Judah], and they will be like [MET] poisonous snakes among you. No one will be able to stop them from attacking you [MET]; they will attack you like snakes do, [and kill you].”

“For, behold, I will send serpents, adders among you, which will not be charmed; and they will bite you,” says the LORD.

18 I grieve very much [for the people of Judah], and my grieving does not end. I am very sad [IDM].

Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! My heart is faint within me.

19 Throughout our land, the people ask, “Has Yahweh abandoned Jerusalem? Is [he], our city’s king, no longer there?” [Yahweh replies], “Why do the people cause me to become very angry by [worshiping] idols and foreign gods?” [RHQ]

Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: “Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign idols?”

20 [The people say], “The harvest [season] is finished, the (summer/hot season) has ended, [and we hoped that we would receive blessings from Yahweh], but he has not rescued us [from our enemies].”

“The harvest is past. The summer has ended, and we are not saved.”

21 I cry because my people have been crushed. I mourn, and I am completely dismayed.

For the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am hurt. I mourn. Dismay has taken hold of me.

22 [I ask], “Surely there is [RHQ] medicinal balm in the Gilead [region]! Surely there are [RHQ] doctors there!” But my people have been badly wounded [in their spirits], and nothing can heal them.

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