[1] At that time, says Yahweh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings
of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and
the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
out of their graves; [2] and they shall spread them before the sun, and the
moon, and all the host of the sky, which they have loved, and which they
have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought,
and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried,
they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth. [3] Death shall 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
Hosts. [4] Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall,
and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return? [5] Why then is
this 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 him 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; and
the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their
coming; but my people don`t know the law of Yahweh. [8] How do you say, We
are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But, behold, the false pen of
the scribes has worked falsely. [9] The wise men are put to shame, they are
dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh; and what
manner of wisdom is in them? [10] Therefore will I 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 every one deals falsely. [11] They have healed the hurt
of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is
no peace. [12] Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay,
they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall
they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall
be cast down, says Yahweh. [13] I will utterly consume them, says Yahweh:
there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the
leaf shall fade; and [the things that] I have given them shall 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, dismay! [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 are 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
shall 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 that is very 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?
