Judah's Sin and Punishment

1At that time, saith Jehovah, they shall bring forth 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; 2and they shall spread them out to the sun and to the moon and to all the host of the heavens, 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 ground. 3And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, in all the places whither I have driven those that remain, saith Jehovah of hosts.

4And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Do [men] fall, and not rise up? Doth one turn away, and not return?

5Why hath this people of Jerusalem slidden back with a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

6I hearkened and heard: they speak not what is right; there is no man who repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turneth to his course, like a horse rushing into the battle.

7Even a 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 judgment of Jehovah.

8How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? Behold, certainly the lying pen of the scribes hath made it falsehood.

9The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected Jehovah's word; and what wisdom is in them?

10Therefore will I give their wives unto others, their fields to those 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.

11And they have healed the breach of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace! when there is no peace.

12Are they ashamed that they have committed abomination? Nay, they are not at all ashamed, and they know not how to blush. Therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, saith Jehovah.

13I will utterly take them away, saith Jehovah: there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree; and the leaf is faded: and I will give them up to those that shall pass over them.

14Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced 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.

15Peace is looked for, and there is no good; a time of healing, and behold, terror.

16The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: the whole land trembleth at the sound of the neighing of his steeds, and they come, and devour the land, and all it contains, the city and those that dwell therein.

17For behold, I send among you serpents, vipers against which there is no charm, and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah.

Jeremiah Weeps for his People

18My comfort in my sadness! my heart is faint in me!

19Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, from a very far country: Is not Jehovah in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, with foreign vanities?

20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

21 -- For the breach of the daughter of my people am I crushed; I go mourning; astonishment hath taken hold of me.

22Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Why then is there no dressing applied for the healing of the daughter of my people?