Jeremiah 8:5-22

5Why has this people, Jerusalem, 1Turned away in continual apostasy? They 2hold on to deceit, They 3refuse to return.6I 4have listened and heard, They have spoken what is not right; 5No one repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, Like a 6horse charging into the battle.7Even the stork in the sky 7Knows her seasons; And the 8turtledove, the swallow, and the crane Keep to the time of their 9migration; But 10My people do not know The judgment 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, So what kind of wisdom do they have?10Therefore I will 14give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is 15greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest, Everyone practices deceit.11They have 16healed the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.12Were they 17ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, And they did not know how to be ashamed; Therefore they will 18fall among those who fall; At the 19time of their punishment they will collapse,” Says the Lord.

13“I will 20certainly snatch them away,” declares the Lord. “There will be 21no grapes on the vine And 22no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away.”’”14Why are we sitting still? 23Assemble yourselves, and let’s 24go into the fortified cities And perish there, For the Lord our God has doomed us And given us 25poisoned water to drink, Because 26we have sinned against the Lord.15We 27waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!16From 28Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his 29stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and 30devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants.17“For behold, I am 31sending serpents among you, Vipers for which there is 32no charm; And they will bite you,” declares the Lord.

1833My 34sorrow is beyond healing, My 35heart is faint within me!19Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a 36distant land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they 37provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign 3839idols?”20“Harvest is past, summer is over, And we are not saved.”21I am broken over the 40brokenness of the daughter of my people. I 41mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.22Is there no 42balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? 43Why then has not the 44health of the daughter of my people 45been restored?