¹At that time, declares the LORD , the bones of the kings of Judah and its officers, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be taken from their graves

²and exposed to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly forces, which they have loved and served and which they have followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won’t be gathered for reburial but will become like refuse lying on the ground.

³The survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, wherever I have scattered them, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.

Depth of Judah’s wrongdoing

⁴Say to them, The LORD proclaims:

When people fall down, don’t they get up?

When they turn aside, don’t they turn back?

⁵Why then does this people, rebellious Jerusalem,

persistently turn away from me?

They cling to deceit

and refuse to return.

⁶I have listened carefully

but haven’t heard a word of truth from them.

No one regrets their wrongdoing;

no one says, “What have I done?”

Everyone turns to their own course,

like a stallion dashing into the thick of battle.

⁷Even the stork in the sky knows the seasons,

and the dove, swallow, and crane

⁸How can you say, “We are wise;

we possess the LORD ’s Instruction,”

⁹The wise will be shamed and shocked

when they are caught.

Look, they have rejected the LORD ’s word;

what kind of wisdom is that?

¹⁰Therefore, I will give their wives to others

and their fields to their captors.

From the least to the greatest,

all are eager to profit.

From prophet to priest,

all trade in falsehood.

¹¹They treat the wound of my people

as if it were nothing:

“All is well, all is well,” they insist,

when in fact nothing is well.

¹²They should be ashamed

but they have no shame;

Therefore, they will fall among the fallen

and stumble when disaster arrives,

¹³I will put an end to them,[#8.13 Heb uncertain]

there are no grapes on the vine,

They have squandered what I have given them!

A lament for God’s people

¹⁴Why are we sitting here?

Come, let’s go to the fortified towns

The LORD our God has doomed us

by giving us poisoned water to drink,

¹⁵We longed for relief,

for a time of healing,

¹⁶The snorting of their horses can be heard as far as Dan;

the neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble.

They come to devour the land and everything in it,

towns and people alike.

¹⁷See, I’m sending serpents against you,

vipers that you can’t charm,

and they will bite you,

¹⁸No healing,

only grief;

¹⁹Listen to the weeping of my people

“Isn’t the LORD in Zion?

Why then did they anger me with their images,

with pointless foreign gods?

²⁰“The harvest is past,

the summer has ended,

²¹Because my people are crushed,

I am crushed;

darkness and despair overwhelm me.

What to do with God’s people

²²Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then have my people

not been restored to health?