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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?

The Prophet shews now in the name of the people what was the hindrance. At the time Jeremiah spoke, the Jews confidently boasted that God was their defender; and they did not think that the Chaldeans were preparing for an expedition. But as they were inflated with false confidence, the Prophet here recites what they would presently say, Passed has the harvest, ended has the summer, and we have not been saved; that is, “We thought that the associates, with whom we have made alliances, would at length come to our aid; and we have in this respect been deceived.” In saying, that the harvest had passed, some think that they expected help from the Egyptians after they had gathered their corn into barns; for there is then more leisure, and then also there are provisions for the army. But the Prophet seems to include the whole time suitable for carrying on war; as though he had said, “What will become of us at last? for if the Egyptians intended to bring help, they would have done so at the suitable time of the year; but passed has the harvest, and the summer has ended: will they come now, when the severity of winter constrains them to keep at home?.”

It is the same as though they had said, “There is no hope of aid either from the Egyptians or from other confederates, for the seasonable time is gone by.” There was nothing less credible to the Jews at that time; for as it; has elsewhere appeared, they doubted not but that the Egyptians would bring them aid, and supply them with help instead of God: but the Prophet intimates, that whatever the Egyptians might have promised would be in vain, and wholly useless, that the people would at length find out by experience that their promises were mere trumperies, yea, impostures and deceits. In short, he describes in the name of the people (that what he said might be more emphatical) what they would soon find out, though they would not believe it at that time. It follows —