Jeremiah 8-10

New International Version

“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?^(I)
    When someone turns away,^(J) do they not return?
⁵ Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;^(K)
    they refuse to return.^(L)
6 I have listened^(M) attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent^(N) of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course^(O)
    like a horse charging into battle.
⁷ Even the stork in the sky
    knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
    observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know^(P)
    the requirements of the Lord.

⁸ “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
    for we have the law^(Q) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?
⁹ The wise^(R) will be put to shame;
    they will be dismayed^(S) and trapped.^(T)
Since they have rejected the word^(U) of the Lord,
    what kind of wisdom^(V) do they have?
¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to other men
    and their fields to new owners.^(W)
From the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain;^(X)
prophets^(Y) and priests alike,
    all practice deceit.^(Z)
11 They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
    when there is no peace.^(AA)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame^(AB) at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when they are punished,^(AC)
says the Lord.^(AD)

¹³ “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
    There will be no grapes on the vine.^(AE)
There will be no figs^(AF) on the tree,
    and their leaves will wither.^(AG)
What I have given them
    will be taken^(AH) from them.^[a]’”

¹⁴ Why are we sitting here?
    Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities^(AI)
    and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and given us poisoned water^(AJ) to drink,
    because we have sinned^(AK) against him.
¹⁵ We hoped for peace^(AL)
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(AM)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses^(AN)
    is heard from Dan;^(AO)
at the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land trembles.^(AP)
They have come to devour^(AQ)
    the land and everything in it,
    the city and all who live there.

¹⁷ “See, I will send venomous snakes^(AR) among you,
    vipers that cannot be charmed,^(AS)
    and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁸ You who are my Comforter^[b] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint^(AT) within me.
¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:^(AU)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King^(AV) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused^(AW) my anger with their images,
    with their worthless^(AX) foreign idols?”^(AY)

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

²¹ Since my people are crushed,^(AZ) I am crushed;
    I mourn,^(BA) and horror grips me.
²² Is there no balm in Gilead?^(BB)
    Is there no physician^(BC) there?
Why then is there no healing^(BD)
    for the wound of my people?

³ “They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;^(BK)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph^[d] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge^(BL) me,”
declares the Lord.
⁴ “Beware of your friends;^(BM)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.^(BN)
For every one of them is a deceiver,^[e](BO)
    and every friend a slanderer.^(BP)
5 Friend deceives friend,^(BQ)
    and no one speaks the truth.^(BR)
They have taught their tongues to lie;^(BS)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
⁶ You^[f] live in the midst of deception;^(BT)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

“See, I will refine^(BU) and test^(BV) them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
⁸ Their tongue^(BW) is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,^(BX)
    but in their hearts they set traps^(BY) for them.^(BZ)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge^(CA) myself
    on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰ I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.^(CB)
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds^(CC) have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

¹¹ “I will make Jerusalem a heap^(CD) of ruins,
    a haunt of jackals;^(CE)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah^(CF)
    so no one can live there.”^(CG)

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(CR) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
¹⁸ Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.^(CS)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(CT) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

²⁰ Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.^(CU)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(CV)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows^(CW)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(CX) from the public squares.

“‘Dead bodies will lie
    like dung^(CY) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
    with no one to gather them.’”

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom^(CZ)
    or the strong boast of their strength^(DA)
    or the rich boast of their riches,^(DB)
24 but let the one who boasts boast^(DC) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know^(DD) me,
that I am the Lord,^(DE) who exercises kindness,^(DF)
    justice and righteousness^(DG) on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

“Do not learn the ways of the nations^(DM)
    or be terrified by signs^(DN) in the heavens,
    though the nations are terrified by them.
³ For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
    they cut a tree out of the forest,
    and a craftsman^(DO) shapes it with his chisel.^(DP)
4 They adorn it with silver^(DQ) and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so it will not totter.^(DR)
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
    their idols cannot speak;^(DS)
they must be carried
    because they cannot walk.^(DT)
Do not fear them;
    they can do no harm^(DU)
    nor can they do any good.”^(DV)

⁶ No one is like you,^(DW) Lord;
    you are great,^(DX)
    and your name is mighty in power.
⁷ Who should not fear^(DY) you,
    King of the nations?^(DZ)
    This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms,
    there is no one like you.

⁸ They are all senseless^(EA) and foolish;^(EB)
    they are taught by worthless wooden idols.^(EC)
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish^(ED)
    and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made^(EE)
    is then dressed in blue and purple—
    all made by skilled workers.
¹⁰ But the Lord is the true God;
    he is the living God,^(EF) the eternal King.^(EG)
When he is angry,^(EH) the earth trembles;^(EI)
    the nations cannot endure his wrath.^(EJ)

¹² But God made^(EL) the earth^(EM) by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(EN)
    and stretched out the heavens^(EO) by his understanding.
¹³ When he thunders,^(EP) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning^(EQ) with the rain^(ER)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(ES)

¹⁴ Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed^(ET) by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(EU)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless,^(EV) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁶ He who is the Portion^(EW) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,^(EX)
including Israel, the people of his inheritance^(EY)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.^(EZ)

¹⁹ Woe to me because of my injury!
    My wound^(FD) is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
    “This is my sickness, and I must endure^(FE) it.”
²⁰ My tent^(FF) is destroyed;
    all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;^(FG)
    no one is left now to pitch my tent
    or to set up my shelter.
²¹ The shepherds^(FH) are senseless^(FI)
    and do not inquire of the Lord;^(FJ)
so they do not prosper^(FK)
    and all their flock is scattered.^(FL)
22 Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!^(FM)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,^(FN)
    a haunt of jackals.^(FO)