1 At that time, says Yahweh, they shall bring out 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; 2 and they shall spread them before the sun, and the
moon, and all the host of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have
served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and
which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they
shall be for dung on the surface of the earth. 3 Death shall be chosen
rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that
remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Yahweh of Hosts.
4 Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not
rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return? 5 Why then is this
people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast
deceit, they refuse to return. 6 I listened and heard, but they didn’t
speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?
everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.
7 Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove
and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people
don’t know Yaweh’s law. 8 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of
Yahweh is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked
falsely. 9 The wise men are disappointed, they are dismayed and taken:
behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh; and what manner of wisdom is
in them? 10 Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields
to those who shall possess them: for everyone from the least even to the
greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest every
one deals falsely. 11 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my
people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 12 Were
they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all
ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who
fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
13 I will utterly consume them, says Yahweh: there shall be no grapes on
the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the
things that I have given them shall pass away from them. 14 Why do we
sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities,
and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and
given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of
healing, and, behold, dismay! 16 The snorting of his horses is heard from
Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles;
for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city
and those who dwell therein. 17 For, behold, I will send serpents, adders,
among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Yahweh.
18 Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within
me. 19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a
land that is very far off: isn’t Yahweh in Zion? Isn’t her King in her? Why
have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign
vanities? 20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not
saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn;
dismay has taken hold on me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no
physician there? why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people
recovered?
World English Bible - Public Domain |
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