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8. Sin and Punishment

¹ “‘At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. ² They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. ³ Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the LORD Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

⁴ “Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says:

   “‘When people fall down, do they not get up?
   When someone turns away, do they not return?
⁵ Why then have these people turned away?
   Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
   they refuse to return.
⁶ I have listened attentively,
   but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
   saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
   like a horse charging into battle.
⁷ Even the stork in the sky
   knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
   observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
   the requirements of the LORD.

    ⁸ “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
   for we have the law of the LORD,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
   has handled it falsely?
⁹ The wise will be put to shame;
   they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
   what kind of wisdom do they have?
¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to other men
   and their fields to new owners.
From the least to the greatest,
   all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
   all practice deceit.
¹¹ They dress the wound of my people
   as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
   when there is no peace.
¹² Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
   No, they have no shame at all;
   they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
   they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.

    ¹³ “‘I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD.
   There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
   and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
   will be taken from them. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.’”

    ¹⁴ Why are we sitting here?
   Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
   and perish there!
For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish
   and given us poisoned water to drink,
   because we have sinned against him.
¹⁵ We hoped for peace
   but no good has come,
for a time of healing
   but there is only terror.
¹⁶ The snorting of the enemy’s horses
   is heard from Dan;
at the neighing of their stallions
   the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour
   the land and everything in it,
   the city and all who live there.

    ¹⁷ “See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
   vipers that cannot be charmed,
   and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.

    ¹⁸ You who are my Comforter The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. in sorrow,
   my heart is faint within me.
¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
   from a land far away:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
   Is her King no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?”

    ²⁰ “The harvest is past,
   the summer has ended,
   and we are not saved.”

    ²¹ Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
   I mourn, and horror grips me.
²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
   Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
   for the wound of my people?

He increases their terror by another comparison, — that not only enemies would violently attack them, but that their bitings would be venomous. He had spoken of horses, and mentioned their violent onsets; but he now expresses another thing, — that the Jews would have to carry on war with vipers and basilisks The Prophet no doubt only meant to shew that they could not possibly escape; for as from serpents men can hardly escape, especially when they are numerous, and assail them on every side, so he intimates, that the war would be fatal to the Jews, when attacked by serpents and vipers.

They shall bite you, he says, and for them there will be no incantation; that is, by no means can they be driven away from you. If one asks, Can serpents be driven away by incantations? the answer is, — that the Prophet here does not refer to what is true, but speaks according to the common opinions of men. It has been thought in all ages, that serpents can be driven away by incantations, or be killed, or be deprived of the power of hurting. “The deadly snake, “says Virgil, in Eclo. viii., “is dissolved in the meadows by singing.” What that heathen poet has said has been believed also by other nations; and as I have already said, it has been a commonly received opinion that serpents may be charmed. As then it was a common belief, the Prophet says, “If ye think that these serpents can be turned away, and the hurt that proceeds from them, ye are greatly deceived; for there will be for them no incantation.” There is also a mention made of incantation in Psalm 58:6: but as I have already said, the prophets accommodate their words to the comprehension of men. The Prophet does here also indirectly reprove the Jews, by comparing their false resources to incantations, as though he had said, — “Ye think that ye can soothe your enemies by flatteries and bribery, so that they may not hurt you; and ye also think that ye have ready at hand various means by which you may avert the evils which impend over you: in vain, he says, ye deceive yourselves with such hopes; for all your incantations as to these serpents shall be to no purpose, and wholly useless.”

We now then perceive the Prophet’s intention, and see that by this figure he ironically derides the crafty measures of the people, and all the remedies which they thought they had in readiness when assailed by their enemies. It follows —