1
At that time, saith the Lord, they shall cast out the bones of the kings of Juda, and the bones of the princes thereof, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
2
And they shall spread them abroad to 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 adored: they shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried: they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth.
3
And death shall be chosen rather than life by all that shall remain of this wicked kindred in all places, which are left, to which I have cast them out, saith the Lord of hosts.
4
And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Shall not he that falleth, rise again? and he that is turned away, shall he not turn again?
5
Why then is this people in Jerusalem turned away with a stubborn revolting? they have laid hold on lying, and have refused to return.
6
I attended, and hearkened; no man speaketh what is good, there is none that doth penance for his sin, saying: What have I done? They are all turned to their own course, as a horse rushing to the battle.
7
The kite in the air hath known her time: the turtle, and the swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming: but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord.
8
How do you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Indeed the lying pen of the scribes hath wrought falsehood.
9
The wise men are confounded, they are dismayed, and taken: for they have cast away the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them.
10
Therefore I will give their women to strangers, their fields to others for an inheritance: because from the least even to the greatest all follow covetousness: from the prophet even to the priest, all deal deceitfully.
11
And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying Peace, peace: when there was no peace.
12
They are confounded, because they have committed abomination: yea rather they are not confounded with confusion, and they have not know how to blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall fall, saith the Lord.
13
Gathering I will gather them together, saith the Lord, there is no grape on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig tree, the leaf is fallen: and I have given them the things that are passed away.
The People Respond
14
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and hath given us water of gall to drink: for we have sinned against the Lord.
15
We looked for peace and no good came: for a time of healing, and behold fear.
16
The snorting of his horse was heard from Dan, all the land was moved at the sound of the neighing of his warriors: and they came and devoured the land, and all that was in it: the city and its inhabitants.
17
For behold I will send among you serpents, basilisks, against which there is no charm: and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah Weeps for His People
18
My sorrow is above sorrow, my heart mourneth within me.
19
Behold the voice of the daughter my people from a far country: Is not the Lord in Sion, or is not her king in her? why then have they provoked me to wrath with their idols, and strange vanities?
20
The harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21
For the affliction of the daughter of my people I am afflicted, and made sorrowful, astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22
Is there no balm in Galaad? or is no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?