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Chapter 8 |
| 1 | At that time,
saith the LORD, 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 heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and
after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have
worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung
upon the face of the earth. |
|
3 | And death shall be chosen rather than
life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain
in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
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| 4 | Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall,
and not arise? shall he 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 hearkened and heard, but they
spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I
done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the
battle. |
| 7 |
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and
the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but
my people know not the judgment of the LORD. |
|
8 | How do ye say, We are
wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the
pen of the scribes is in vain. |
|
9 | The wise men are ashamed, they are
dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what
wisdom is in them? |
| 10 | Therefore will I give their wives unto
others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from
the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet
even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. |
| 11 | For 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 them that fall: in the time of
their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. |
| 13 | I will
surely consume them, saith the LORD: 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 defenced cities, and let us be silent
there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall
to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. |
| 15 | We looked
for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold
trouble! |
| 16
| The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole
land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are
come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those
that dwell therein. |
| 17 | For, behold, I will send serpents,
cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you,
saith the LORD. |
|
18 | When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my
heart is faint in me. |
| 19 | Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter
of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in
Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their
graven images, and with strange 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 am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
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| 22 | Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not
the health of the daughter of my people recovered? |
