Jeremiah 8:1-12

New King James Version

Jeremiah Mourns for His People

8 “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its 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. ²They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and ^(A)which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered ^(B)nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. ³Then ^(C)death shall be chosen rather than life by all the ^[a]residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

The Peril of False Teaching

⁴“Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“Will they fall and not rise?
Will one turn away and not return?
⁵Why has this people ^(D)slidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
^(E)They hold fast to deceit,
^(F)They refuse to return.
⁶^(G)I listened and heard,
But they do not speak aright.
^(H)No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his own course,
As the horse rushes into the battle.

⁷“Even ^(I)the stork in the heavens
Knows her appointed times;
And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow
Observe the time of their coming.
But ^(J)My people do not know the judgment of the Lord.

⁸“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
^(K)And the law of the Lord is with us’?
Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
⁹^(L)The wise men are ashamed,
They are dismayed and taken.
Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord;
So ^(M)what wisdom do they have?
¹⁰Therefore ^(N)I will give their wives to others,
And their fields to those who will inherit them;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is given to ^(O)covetousness;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
¹¹For they have ^(P)healed the hurt of the daughter of My people ^[b]slightly,
Saying, ^(Q)‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
¹²Were they ^(R)ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed,
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
In the time of their punishment
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.