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The
Valley of Slaughter (continued)
8:1 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:
8:2 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.
8:3 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.
Sin and Punishment
8:4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD;
Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not
return?
8:5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a
perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to
return.
8:6 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.
8:7 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.
8:8 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.
8:9 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?
8:10 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.
8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my
people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace.
8:12 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.
8:13 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.
8:14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us
enter into the defenced 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.
8:15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time
of health, and behold trouble!
8:16 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.
8:17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among
you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you,
saith the LORD.
8:18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart
is faint in me.
8:19 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?
8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are
not saved.
8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I
am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician
there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my
people recovered? |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
