Jeremiah 8:5-22

5Why then has this people, Jerusalem, 1Turned away in continual apostasy? They 2hold fast to deceit, They 3refuse to return.6I 4have listened and heard, They have spoken what is not right; 5No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his course, Like a 6horse charging into the battle.7Even the stork in the sky 7Knows her seasons; And the 8turtledove and the swift and the thrush Observe the time of their 9migration; But 10My people do not know The ordinance of the Lord.

8“11How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.9The wise men are 12put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have 13rejected the word of the Lord, And what kind of wisdom do they have?10Therefore I will 14give their wives to others, Their fields to 15new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is 16greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices deceit.11They 17heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.12Were they 18ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And they did not know how to blush; Therefore they shall 19fall among those who fall; At the 20time of their punishment they shall be brought down,” Says the Lord.

13“I will 21surely snatch them away,” declares the Lord; “There will be 22no grapes on the vine And 23no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away.”’”14Why are we sitting still? 24Assemble yourselves, and let us 25go into the fortified cities And let us perish there, Because the Lord our God has doomed us And given us 26poisoned water to drink, For 27we have sinned against the Lord.15We 28waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!16From 29Dan is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his 30stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and 31devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants.17“For behold, I am 32sending serpents against you, Adders, for which there is 33no charm, And they will bite you,” declares the Lord.

1834My 35sorrow is beyond healing, My 36heart is faint within me!19Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a 37distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they 38provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign 3940idols?”20“Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.”21For the 41brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I 42mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.22Is there no 43balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? 44Why then has not the 45health of the daughter of my people 46been restored?