Jeremiah 8

¹“At that time,” declares Yahweh, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its officials, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Judah from their graves.[#Literally “a declaration of”]

²And they shall spread them out before the sun, and before the moon, and before all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and which they have gone after, and which they have inquired about, and to which they have bowed in worship. They shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground.

³And death will be preferred to life by all the remaining of this evil clan in all the remaining places where I have driven them away,” declares Yahweh.[#Or “family”; #Literally “a declaration of”]

Yahweh Questions His People

⁴“And you shall say to them, ‘Thus asks Yahweh:[#Or “says”]

“Do men fall and not stand up?

⁵Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in enduring apostasy?

⁶I have listened attentively,

They do not speak honestly,

All of them are turning to their ways of running,

⁷Even the stork in heaven knows its appointed time,

they observe the time of their coming.

⁸How can you say, ‘We are wise and the law of Yahweh is with us’?

⁹The wise will be put to shame,

Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh,

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to others,

because from the smallest to the greatest,

from prophet to priest,

¹¹And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly,

¹²Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing?

and they did not know to feel humiliated.

¹³“I will take away their harvest,” declares Yahweh.[#Literally “I will take away, I will make an end to them”; #Literally “a declaration of”]

“There are no grapes on the vine,

and the leaves wither,

The Nation Longs for Yahweh’s Help

¹⁴Why are we sitting?

and let us perish there,

and has provided drink for us, water of poison,

¹⁵We hope for peace,

for a time of healing,

¹⁶“From Dan is heard the snorting of their horses,

for they come and devour the land,

¹⁷For look, I am letting loose among you snakes,

¹⁸“My comfort is gone from me,

¹⁹Look, the sound of the cry for help of the daughter of my people

‘Is Yahweh not in Zion?

Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,

²⁰The harvest has passed,

and we have not received help.

Yahweh’s Lament

²¹“Because of the wound of the daughter of my people I am broken down,

²²Is there no balm in Gilead?

Why, then, has the healing of the daughter of my people not been restored?