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Jeremiah

Chapter 8

Jeremiah · Prophet Jeremiah

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 out to the sun, and the moon, and to all the stars, and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and to which they have held, and which they have worshiped; they shall not be mourned for, neither shall they be buried; but they shall be for an example on the face of the earth, ³ because they chose death rather than life, even to all the remnant that are left of that family, in every place whither I shall drive them out.

ΕΝ τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, λέγει Κύριος, ἐξοίσουσι τὰ ὀστᾶ τῶν βασιλέων Ἰούδα καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ τῶν ἱερέων καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ προφητῶν καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐκ τῶν τάφων αὐτῶν καὶ ψύξουσιν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ πρὸς πάντας τοὺς ἀστέρας καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἃ ἠγάπησαν, καὶ οἷς ἐδούλευσαν καὶ ὧν ἐπορεύθησαν ὀπίσω αὐτῶν καὶ ὧν ἀντείχοντο καὶ οἷς προσεκύνησαν αὐτοῖς· οὐ κοπήσονται καὶ οὐ ταφήσονται, καὶ ἔσονται εἰς παράδειγμα ἐπὶ προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ὅτι εἵλοντο τὸν θάνατον ἢ τὴν ζωήν, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς καταλοίποις τοῖς καταλειφθεῖσιν ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς ἐκείνης ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ, οὗ ἐὰν ἐξώσω αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ.

Jer 8:1-3

⁴ For thus saith the Lord, Shall not he that falls arise? or he that turns away, shall he not turn back again? ⁵ Wherefore has this my people turned away with a shameless revolting, and strengthened themselves in their willfulness, and refused to return? ⁶ Hearken, I pray you, and hear: will they not speak thus, There is no man that repents of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? the runner has failed from his course, as a tired horse in his neighing. ⁷ Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her time, [also] the turtledove and wild swallow; the sparrows observe the times of their coming in; but this my people knows not the judgments of the Lord.

¨Οτι τάδε λέγει Κύριος· μὴ ὁ πίπτων οὐκ ἀνίσταται; ἢ ὁ ἀποστρέφων οὐκ ἀναστρέφει; διατί ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ λαός μου οὗτος ἀποστροφὴν ἀναιδῆ καὶ κατεκρατήθησαν ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι; ἐνωτίσασθε δὴ καὶ ἀκούσατε· οὐχ οὕτω λαλήσουσιν· οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος μετανοῶν ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας αὐτοῦ, λέγων· τί ἐποίησα; διέλιπεν ὁ τρέχων ἀπὸ τοῦ δρόμου αὐτοῦ ὡς ἵππος κάθιδρος ἐν χρεμετισμῷ αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἡ ἀσίδα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔγνω τὸν καιρὸν αὐτῆς, τρυγὼν καὶ χελιδών, ἀγροῦ στρουθία ἐφύλαξαν καιροὺς εἰσόδων ἑαυτῶν, ὁ δὲ λαός μου οὗτος οὐκ ἔγνω τὰ κρίματα Κυρίου.

Jer 8:4-7

⁸ How will ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? In vain have the scribes used a false pen. ⁹ The wise men are ashamed, and alarmed, and taken; because they have rejected the word of the Lord; what wisdom is there in them? ¹⁰ Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to [new] inheritors; and they shall gather their fruits, saith the Lord. ¹³ There are no grapes on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig trees, and the leaves have fallen off.

πῶς ἐρεῖτε· ὅτι σοφοί ἐσμεν ἡμεῖς, καὶ νόμος Κυρίου μεθ' ἡμῶν ἐστιν; εἰς μάτην ἐγενήθη σχοῖνος ψευδὴς γραμματεῦσιν. ᾐσχύνθησαν σοφοὶ καὶ ἐπτοήθησαν καὶ ἑάλωσαν, ὅτι τὸν λόγον Κυρίου ἀπεδοκίμασαν· σοφία τίς ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς; διὰ τοῦτο δώσω τὰς γυναῖκας αὐτῶν ἑτέροις καὶ τοὺς ἀγροὺς αὐτῶν τοῖς κληρονόμοις· καὶ συνάξουσι τὰ γεννήματα αὐτῶν, λέγει Κύριος, οὐκ ἔστι σταφυλὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀμπέλοις, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι σῦκα ἐν ταῖς συκαῖς, καὶ τὰ φύλλα κατερρύηκεν.

Jer 8:8-13

¹⁴ Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the strong cities, and let us be cast out there: for God has cast us out, and made us drink water of gall, because we have sinned before him. ¹⁵ We assembled for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, but behold anxiety.

ἐπὶ τί ἡμεῖς καθήμεθα; συνάχθητε καὶ εἰσέλθωμεν εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὰς ὀχυρὰς καὶ ἀπορριφῶμεν, ὅτι Θεὸς ἀπέρριψεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπότισεν ἡμᾶς ὕδωρ χολῆς, ὅτι ἡμάρτομεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ. συνήχθημεν εἰς εἰρήνην, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀγαθά· εἰς καιρὸν ἰάσεως, καὶ ἰδοὺ σπουδή.

Jer 8:14-15

¹⁶ We shall hear the neighing of his swift horses out of Dan: the whole land quaked at the sound of the neighing of his horses; and he shall come, and devour the land and the fullness of it; the city, and them that dwell in it. ¹⁷ For, behold, I send forth against you deadly serpents, which cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you ¹⁸ mortally with the pain of your distressed heart.

ἐκ Δὰν ἀκουσόμεθα φωνὴν ὀξύτητος ἵππων αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ φωνῆς χρεμετισμοῦ ἱππασίας ἵππων αὐτοῦ ἐσείσθη πᾶσα ἡ γῆ· καὶ ἥξει καὶ καταφάγεται τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, πόλιν καὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ. διότι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐξαποστέλλω εἰς ὑμᾶς ὄφεις θανατοῦντας, οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπᾷσαι, καὶ δήξονται ὑμᾶς ἀνίατα μετ' ὀδύνης καρδίας ὑμῶν ἀπορουμένης.

Jer 8:16-18

¹⁹ Behold, [there is] a sound of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land afar off: Is not the Lord in Zion? is there not a king there? because they have provoked me with their graven [images], and with strange vanities. ²⁰ The summer is gone, the harvest is past, and we are not saved.

ἰδοὺ φωνὴ κραυγῆς θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου ἀπὸ γῆς μακρόθεν· μὴ Κύριος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν Σιών; ἢ βασιλεὺς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ; διατί παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς γλυπτοῖς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν ματαίοις ἀλλοτρίοις; διῆλθε θέρος, παρῆλθεν ἄμητος, καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐ διεσώθημεν.

Jer 8:19-20

²¹ For the breach of the daughter of my people I have been saddened: in my perplexity pangs have seized upon me as of a woman in travail. ²² And is there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there? why has not the healing of the daughter of my people taken place?

ἐπὶ συντρίμματι θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου ἐσκοτώθην· ἐν ἀπορίᾳ κατίσχυσάν με ὠδῖνες ὡς τικτούσης. μὴ ρητίνη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν Γαλαάδ, ἢ ἰατρὸς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ; διατί οὐκ ἀνέβη ἴασις θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου;

Jer 8:21-22

²³ Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? then would I weep for this my people day and night, [even] for the slain of the daughter of my people.

Jer 8:23

Greek: Septuagint, public domain via eBible.org (grclxx). The English remains the primary text; the Greek is offered for study.

The Fathers on this passage

How the fathers, councils, and saints of the corpus read Jeremiah: Chapter 8. Drawn by meaning from across the tradition; follow any link to read it in full context.