The Book of Jeremiah
8:1 At that time, saith Jehovah, 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;
8:2and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of
heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they
have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they
shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the
earth. 8:3And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of
this evil family, that remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith
Jehovah of hosts. 8:4Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Shall
men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return? 8:5Why then
is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast
deceit, they refuse to return. 8:6I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no
man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one
turneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle. 8:7Yea, the
stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the
swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not
the law of Jehovah. 8:8How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with
us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely. 8:9The wise men
are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of
Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them? 8:10Therefore will I give their
wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall possess 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. 8:11And they have healed the hurt of
the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
8:12Were 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 Jehovah. 8:13I will
utterly consume them, saith Jehovah: 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. 8:14Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter
into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Jehovah our God hath put us
to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against
Jehovah. 8:15We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing,
and, behold, dismay! 8:16The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound
of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembleth; for they are come,
and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those that dwell
therein. 8:17For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be
charmed; and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah. 8:18Oh that I could comfort myself
against sorrow! my heart is faint within me. 8:19Behold, the voice of the cry of the
daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: is not Jehovah in Zion? is
not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven
images, and with foreign vanities? 8:20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and
we are not saved. 8:21For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn;
dismay hath taken hold on me. 8:22Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician
there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?