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¹ At that time, says Yahweh, 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, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the face of the earth.³ And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Yahweh of hosts.

⁴ Moreover you shall say to them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?⁵ Why then has this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.⁶ I listened and heard, but they did not speak aright: no man repents of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turns to his race, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.⁷ Yes, the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don't know the law of Yahweh.⁸ How do you say, We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But, look, the false pen of the scribes has wrought falsely.⁹ The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh; and what manner of wisdom is in them?¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those that shall possess them: for every one from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely.¹¹ And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.¹² They were ashamed when they did these disgusting things. But, they did not feel ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among those that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.

¹³ I will completely consume them, says Yahweh: 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 fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.¹⁵ We looked for peace, but no good came; [and] for a time of healing, and, look, dismay!¹⁶ The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those that dwell therein.¹⁷ For, look, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Yahweh.¹⁸ I am grimacing because of my sorrow. My heart is faint inside me.¹⁹ Look, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: isn't Yahweh in Zion? isn't her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with foreign vanities?²⁰ The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.²¹ For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on me.²² Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then hasn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?