Jeremias 8

¹ At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring 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 theirThe enemy for greediness will rifle your graves and lay you before those idols, who in your life you worshipped, to see if they can help you.graves:

² And they shal spread them before the sunne and the moone, and all the host of heauen, whom they haue loued, and whome they haue serued, and whome they haue followed, and whome they haue sought, and whome they haue worshipped: they shall not be gathered nor be buried, but shall be as doung vpon the earth.

³ And death shall be chosenBecause of the afflictions that they will feel through God's judgments.rather than life by all the remnant of them that remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

⁴ Moreover thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall theyIs there no hope that they will return?fall, and not rise? shall he turn away, and not return?

⁵ Wherefore is this people of Ierusalem turned backe by a perpetuall rebellion? they gaue themselues to deceit, and would not returne.

⁶ I hearkened and heard, [but] they spoke not aright: no man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyThey are full of hypocrisy, and everyone follows his own fantasy without any consideration.one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth to the battle.

⁷ 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 theHe accuses them in that they are more ignorant of God's judgments, than these birds are of their appointed seasons to discern the cold and heat.judgment of the LORD.

⁸ How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain he hath made [it];The law does not profit you neither need it to have been written for all that you have learned by it.the pen of the scribes [is] in vain.

⁹ TheThey who seem wise may be ashamed of their ignorance for all wisdom consists in God's word.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 giue their wiues vnto others, and their fieldes to them that shall possesse them: for euery one from the least euen vnto the greatest is giuen to couetousnesse, and from the Prophet euen vnto the Priest, euery one dealeth falsely.

¹¹ For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying,{{See Jer_6:14}}Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace.

¹² Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not ashamed, neither coulde they haue any shame: therefore shall they fall among the slaine: when I shall visite them, they shall be cast downe, sayeth the Lorde.

¹³ I wil surely consume them, sayth the Lord: there shalbe no grapes on the vine, nor figges on the figtree, and the leafe shall fade, and the things that I haue giuen them, shal depart from them.

¹⁴ Why do we sit still?He speaks in the person of the people, who when the enemy comes will turn about to hide themselves and acknowledge that it is God's hand.assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water ofThat is, has brought us into extreme affliction, and thus they will not attribute this plague to fortune, but to God's just judgment, (Jer_9:15, Jer_23:15).gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵ We looked for peace, but no good came, & for a time of health, and behold troubles.

¹⁶ The snorting of his horses was heard from{{See Jer_4:15}}Dan: the whole land trembled 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 that dwell in it.

¹⁷ For, behold, I willGod threatens to send the Babylonians among them who will utterly destroy them in such sort, as by no means they will escape.send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which [will] not [be] charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.

¹⁸ [When] I wouldRead (Jer_4:19).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 distant country: [Is] not the LORD in Zion? [is] not her king in her? WhyThus the Lord speaks.have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, [and] with foreign vanities?

²⁰ TheThe people wonder that they have for so long a time looked for comfort in vain.harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

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

²² [Is there] no balmMeaning,that no man's help or means could save them: for in Gilead was precious balm, (Jer_46:11) or else deriding the vain confidence of the people, who looked to their priests for help, who would have been the physicians of their soul, and dwelt at Gilead, (Hos_6:8).in Gilead; [is there] no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?