Jeremiah 8:14-22

14Why are we just sitting here? Gather together; let’s enter the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has destroyed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

15We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good; for a time of healing, but there was only terror.

16From Dan, the snorting of horses is heard. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all its residents.

17Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you, poisonous vipers that cannot be charmed. They will bite you. This is the Lord’s declaration.

18My joy has flown away; grief has settled on me. My heart is sick.

19Listen — the cry of my dear people from a faraway land, “Is the Lord no longer in Zion, her King not within her?” Why have they angered me with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?

20Harvest has passed, summer has ended, but we have not been saved.

21I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people. I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.

22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? So why has the healing of my dear people not come about?