1 “At that time,” says Yahweh, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
2 They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, which they have gone after, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered, nor be buried. They will be for dung on the surface of the earth.
3 Death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says Yahweh of Armies.
4 “Moreover you shall tell them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Do men fall, and not rise up again? Does one turn away, and not return?
5 Why then have the people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit. They refuse to return.
6 I listened and heard, but they didn’t speak aright. No man repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.
7 Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times. The turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don’t know Yahweh’s law.
8 “How do you say, ‘We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us’? But behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.
9 The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What manner of wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them; for everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
11 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they will fall among those who fall. In the time of their visitation they will be cast down,” says Yahweh.
13 “I will utterly consume them,” says Yahweh. “There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf will fade; and the things that I have given them will pass away from them.”
14 Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, terror!
16 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.
17 “For behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they will bite you,” says Yahweh.
18 Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! My heart is faint within me.
19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far off: “Isn’t Yahweh in Zion? Isn’t her King in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign vanities?”
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt. I mourn. Dismay has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Commentary
Overview
Key Themes
Notable Verses
Reflection