1Here is what Yahweh says: “At that time, they will desecrate the graves of Jerusalem and bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the false prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of the city.
2They will spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, which they loved and served. They went after cosmic powers, inquired of them, bowed down before them in adoration, and worshiped them. Because they did these things, their bones will not be buried but will become fertilizer for the ground.
3However, I will leave some of these evil people alive and banish them to other places. Yet all the survivors will prefer death over life. For I, Lord Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, have spoken.”
Stubbornness of Heart4“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘Yahweh says:
“ ‘Don’t people get back up when they fall down?
Don’t they turn around when they take the wrong road?
5So why have you, the people of Jerusalem,
continually refused to turn back to me?
Why do you cling so tightly to your deception
instead of coming home to me?’ ”
Jeremiah’s Description of Their Sin6I have listened carefully to what they say,
but nothing they say is right.
No one is sorry about his sin,
saying, “What have I done wrong?”
Everyone keeps on going his own way,
like a war-horse plunging headlong into battle.
Yahweh Warns Those Who Mislead Others7“Even the stork in the skies
knows her season of migration.
And migratory birds—the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane —
instinctively take flight
according to the times I have set for them,
but my people pay no attention
to the orders of Yahweh.
8How dare you say, ‘We are wise,
because we have the law of Yahweh?’
Look! The scribes teach lies about the law.
They have made the law itself into a lie!
9The know-it-alls will be shamed, terrorized, and trapped.
They walked away from the word of Yahweh,
so wisdom walked away from them.
10Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to those who will take over the land.
From the smallest to the greatest,
they are all greedy for corrupt profits;
priest and prophet alike, they all practice deceit.
11And they treat the wounds of my beloved people
as though they were scratches.
‘Don’t worry,’ they say. ‘Peace, everything is well,’
when there is no peace, and nothing is well.
12They have acted shamefully,
and have committed abhorrent acts,
yet they feel no shame.
They don’t know how to blush.
Surely, they will fall among the fallen,
and stumble when I deal with them,” says Yahweh.
The Remedy Forsaken13Yahweh says:
“I will surely make an end of them.
There will be neither cluster on the vine
nor figs on the fig trees—
even the leaves have withered.
I gave them a good harvest, but it escaped from them.” The Voice of Hopelessness
14Why are we just sitting here?
Let’s band together and go inside our walled cities
and await our death,
since Yahweh our God has condemned us to die.
He has given us our bitter poison to drink,
for we have sinned against him.
15We had hoped for peace and prosperity,
but no blessing came.
We had hoped for a time of healing,
but we were overtaken by sudden terror!
16The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan.
At the sound of the cries of his stallions,
the whole land quakes.
They have entered to completely devastate the land,
Jerusalem, and its inhabitants.
Yahweh Sends Snakes and Vipers17“For look! I am sending slithering snakes to bite you—
venomous vipers that cannot be charmed,” declares Yahweh.
Jeremiah’s Heart Is Crushed18My joy has vanished,
grief grips my soul,
and I am sick at heart.
19Listen! I hear my beloved people
crying out in despair throughout the land:
“Is Yahweh no longer in Zion?
Is her King not dwelling within her?”
“So why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
and with their foreign, phony gods?”
20“Summer has ended,
the harvest is past,
and still we are not saved!”
21I am broken over the brokenness of my dear people.
I mourn all day long.
Horror has gripped me.
22Is there no healer in Gilead?
Is there no medicine there?
Why then have the people I love not been healed?
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