The Faithlessness of Jerusalem

1“At that time,” declares Yahweh, “they will 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 from their graves. 2And they will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground. 3And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have banished them,” declares Yahweh of hosts.

4“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh,

“Do men fall and not get up again?

Does one turn away and not [†]turn back?

5Why then has this people, Jerusalem,

[†]Turned away in continual faithlessness?

They hold fast to deceit;

They refuse to return.

6I have given heed and heard,

They have spoken what is not right;

No man regretted his evil,

Saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turned to his course,

Like a horse charging into the battle.

7Even the stork in the sky

Knows her seasons;

And the turtledove and the swift and the crane

Keep the time of their [†]migration;

But My people do not know

The legal judgment of Yahweh.

8“How can you say, ‘We are wise,

And the law of Yahweh is with us’?

But behold, the lying pen of the scribes

Has made it into a lie.

9The wise men are put to shame;

They are dismayed and captured;

Behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh,

And what kind of wisdom do they have?

10Therefore I will give their wives to others,

Their fields to [†]new possessors,

Because from the least even to the greatest

Everyone is greedy for gain;

From the prophet even to the priest

Everyone practices lying.

11They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,

Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

But there is no peace.

12Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?

They certainly were not ashamed,

And they did not know how to feel dishonor;

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time of their [†]punishment they shall be brought down,”

Says Yahweh.

13“I will surely gather them up,” declares Yahweh;

“There will be no grapes on the vine

And no figs on the fig tree,

And the leaf will wither;

And what I have given them will pass away.”’”

14Why are we sitting still?

Gather yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities

And let us be silent there

Because Yahweh our God has silenced us

And given us [†]poisoned water to drink,

For we have sinned against Yahweh.

15We waited for peace, but there was no good;

For a time of healing, but behold, terror!

16From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses;

At the sound of the neighing of his valiant steeds

The whole land quakes;

And they come and devour the land as well as its fullness,

The city and its inhabitants.

17“For behold, I am sending serpents against you,

Vipers, for which there is no charm,

And they will bite you,” declares Yahweh.

Sorrow over Zion

18[†]My sorrow is beyond healing;

My heart is faint within me!

19Behold, the sound! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land:

“Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”

“Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign [†]idols?”

20“Harvest is past, summer is ended,

And we are not saved.”

21For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;

I mourn, desolation has taken hold of me.

22Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has not the [†]health of the daughter of my people gone up?