Jeremiah 8
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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:
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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.
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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?
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5 |
Why then is this people of
Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast
deceit, they refuse to return.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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11 |
For they have healed the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there
is no peace. Ezek. 13.10
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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. Jer. 6.12-15
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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.
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14 |
Why do we sit still? assemble
yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed 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.
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15 |
We looked for peace, but no good came;
and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
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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.
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17 |
For, behold, I will send serpents,
cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and
they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
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A Lament for Judah and
Jerusalem |
18 |
When I would comfort myself
against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
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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?
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20 |
The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.
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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 Gil'e-ad? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of
the daughter of my people recovered?
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