The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 8 The apostasy of God's people. Punishment is inevitable

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 8

The apostasy of God's people. Punishment is inevitable

4 Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do people fall and not rise again? Do they turn away and not return?’

5 Why then does this people of Jerusalem turn away, with a continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.

6 I listened and heard: They do not speak what is right; no one repents of their wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each one turned to his own course, like a horse charging into battle.

7 Even the stork in the sky knows its appointed times, and the turtledove, the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their migration; but my people do not know the judgment of the Lord.

8 How then can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’?” Behold, the false pen of the scribes has labored in vain.

9 The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken captive; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; what wisdom then do they have?

10 Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their lands to those who possess them; for from the least to the greatest, everyone is given to covetousness; from the prophet to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

11 They have healed the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

12 Are they ashamed of committing abomination? No, they are not at all ashamed, nor do they know what shame is. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall, and they shall stumble at the time when I visit them, says the Lord.

13 Surely I will gather them, says the Lord: there are no more grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf has withered; even that which I gave them will go away from them.

14 Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for the Lord our God has silenced us and given us gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

15 Peace was expected, but no good came; a time of healing, but behold, terror.

16 From Dan comes the snorting of his horses; the whole land trembles at the sound of the neighing of his mighty men; they come and devour the land and its abundance, the city and those who dwell in it.

17 For behold, I will send among you serpents and vipers, against which there is no enchantment, and they shall bite you, says the Lord.

18 Oh, that I could find comfort in my sorrow! My heart is faint within me.

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

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

21 I am broken by the wound of the daughter of my people; I go about mourning; astonishment has seized me.

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