4“Moreover, you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “When people fall down, do they not get back up? When they realize they are headed in the wrong direction, do they not turn around? 5Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem perpetually backslide? They cling to self-deception; they refuse to return. 6I have listened attentively, but they never acknowledge their error; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What a terrible thing I have done!’ Everyone pursues his own course, like a horse charging into the battle. 7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the turtle, the crane and the swallow observe the time of their migration, but My people do not know the law of their LORD.”

8How do you say, “We are wise, and know the law of our LORD”, when the pen of the scribes has distorted the writing of My law? 9The wise men are ashamed; they are befuddled and trapped by their own foolishness, because they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom do they then have? 10Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to new owners; for everyone from the least to the greatest is consumed with greed - from the prophet to the priest - they all practice deceit. 11For they have treated the serious wounds of My people as superficial, saying, “Peace, peace”; when there is no peace. 12Had they any remorse when they had acted abominably? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush; therefore, they shall be among those that fall; in the time of their punishment, they shall be brought low,” says the LORD. 13“I will surely consume them”, says the LORD. “There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall wither; and the things that I have given them shall be taken from them.”

14They say, “Why do we wait here to die? Let us gather in the fortified cities, and stay there; for the LORD, our God, has put us to silence, and given us bitter water to drink, because we have sinned against Him. 15We hoped for peace, but none came; and for a time of healing, but only trouble! 16The snorting of His horses was heard from Dan; the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His stallions; for they have come, and devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those who dwell in it. 17’For, behold, I will send venomous snakes among you that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you’, says the LORD.”

18When I (Jeremiah) would comfort myself in this sorrow, my heart is faint in me. 19Listen to the cry of my people who dwelt in a far country: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, and with strange worthless idols? 20“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, yet we are not saved.” 21Because of the hurt of my people, I (Jeremiah) am also hurt; I am crushed; astonishment has gripped me. 22Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why, then, is there no healing of the wounds of my people?