1 ARST Yahweh says,“After your enemies have destroyed you, then they will break open the graves of your kings and other officials who lived in Judah, and the graves of your priests and prophets and other people who lived there. BSB BSB: “At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.
2 ARST They will take out their bones from their graves and dishonor them by scattering them on the ground under the sun and the moon and the stars— those are the gods which my people loved and served and worshiped. No one will gather up their bones and bury them again; they will remain scattered on the ground like dung. BSB BSB: They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.
3 ARST And all the people of this wicked nation who are still alive and whom I have exiled to other countries will say,‘We would prefer to die than to continue to stay alive here in these countries.’ That will be true because I, Yahweh, have said it.” BSB BSB: And wherever I have banished them, the remnant of this evil family will choose death over life,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
4 ARST Yahweh said to me,“Jeremiah, tell the people that this is what I, Yahweh, am saying to them:‘When people fall down, they get up again, do they not? When people are going along a road and find out that they are walking on the wrong road, they go back and find the correct road, do they not? BSB BSB: So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return?
5 ARST Yes, they do, so why do these people of Judah continue trusting in those idols that have deceived them? They continue turning away from me and betray my covenant, even though I have warned them of what will happen. BSB BSB: Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 ARST I have listened carefully to what they say, but they do not say what they should say. Not one of them is sorry for having sinned. No one says,“I have done wicked things.” They are sinning and doing what they want to; Charging into sinful behavior with the excitement of a horse that is running into a battle. BSB BSB: I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.
7 ARST Even the stork knows when the seasons change, and the dove, the swallow, and the crane understanding the time of their migration! But my people do not know what I, Yahweh, require them to do. BSB BSB: Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
8 ARST Your men who teach you the laws that Moses wrote have been saying false things about those laws. So, why do they continue saying,“We are very wise because we have the laws of Yahweh”? BSB BSB: How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
9 ARST Those teachers, who think that they are wise, will be ashamed and dismayed when they are taken to other countries by their enemies Because they sinned by rejecting what I told them. Truly, they were not very wise to do that! BSB BSB: The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?
10 ARST So, I will give their wives to other men; I will give their fields to the enemy soldiers who conquer them. All the people, including those who are least important and those who are most important, they all are trying to get money by tricking others Even my prophets and priests, they all lie to get what they want. BSB BSB: Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
11 ARST They act as though the sins of my people are like small wounds that they can easily treat. They tell the people that everything will go well with them, but that is not true; things will not go well with them. BSB BSB: They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
12 ARST They should be ashamed when they do disgusting things, but they do not even know how to show on their faces that they are ashamed about their sins. So, they also will be among those who will be killed. They will be destroyed when I punish them. BSB BSB: Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
14 ARST Then the people will say,“Why should we wait here in these small towns? We should go to the cities that have high walls around them, but even if we do that we will be killed there, Because Yahweh our God has decided that we must be destroyed; it is as though he has given us a cup of poison to drink, because we sinned against him. BSB BSB: Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
15 ARST We hoped that things would go well for us, but things have not gone well. We hoped that we would recover and be strong again, but only things that terrify us are happening to us. BSB BSB: We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
16 ARST People far north in the Israelite city of Dan can already hear the snorting of the horses of those who are preparing to attack us. It is as though the entire land is shaking as their army approaches; they are coming to destroy our land and everything in it, the people and the cities.” BSB BSB: The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who dwell in it.
17 ARST Yahweh says,“I will send those enemy soldiers to Judah, and they will be like poisonous snakes among you. No one will be able to stop them from attacking you; they will attack you like snakes do, and kill you.” BSB BSB: “For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
18 ARST My grief for the people of Judah has overwhelmed any sense of happiness. I am very sad in my inner being. BSB BSB: My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.
19 ARST Throughout our land, the people ask,“Has Yahweh abandoned Jerusalem? Is he, our city’ s king, no longer there?” Yahweh replies,“If they want me to be in Jerusalem, why do the people worship idols and foreign gods?” BSB BSB: Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
20 ARST The people say,“The harvest season is finished, the summer has ended, but Yahweh still has not rescued us from our enemies.” BSB BSB: “The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, but we have not been saved.”
21 ARST I cry because my people have been crushed. I mourn, and I am completely dismayed. BSB BSB: For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
22 ARST I ask,“Surely there is medicinal balm in the region of Gilead! Surely there are doctors there!” But my people have been badly wounded in their spirits, and nothing can heal them. BSB BSB: Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.