Dual Panel1The Lord <03068> says <05002>, “When that time <06256> comes <03318>, the bones <06106> of the kings <04428> of Judah <03063> and its leaders <08269>, the bones <06106> of the priests <03548> and prophets <05030> and of all the other people who lived in <03427> Jerusalem <03389> will be dug up from their graves <06913>.
2They will be spread out <07849> and exposed to the sun <08121>, the moon <03394> and the stars <08064> <06635>. These are things they adored <0157> and served <05647>, things to which <0834> they paid <01980> allegiance <0310>, from which <0834> they sought <01875> guidance, and worshiped <07812>. The bones of these people will never <03808> be regathered <0622> and reburied <06912>. They will <01961> be like manure <01828> used to fertilize the ground <0127> <06440> <05921>.
3However, I will leave <07604> some of <04480> these wicked <07451> people <04940> alive <07604> and banish <05080> them to other <03605> places <04725>. But wherever <03605> these people who survive <07611> may go <07604>, they will wish <0977> they had died <04194> rather than lived <02416>,” says <05002> the Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635>.
4The Lord said <0559> to <0413> me, “Tell <0559> them, ‘The Lord <03068> says, Do people not <03808> get back up <06965> when they fall down <05307>? Do <0518> they not <03808> turn <07725> around when they go the wrong way <07725>?
5Why <04069>, then, do these <02088> people <05971> of Jerusalem <03389> continually <05331> turn away <07725> from me in apostasy <04878>? They hold fast <02388> to their deception <08649>. They refuse <03985> to turn back <07725> to me.
6I have listened <08085> <07181> to them very carefully <08085> <07181>, but they do not <03808> speak <01696> honestly <03651>. None <0376> <0369> of them regrets <05162> the evil <07451> he has done. None of them says <0559>, “I have done <06213> wrong!” All <03605> of them persist <07725> in their own wayward course <04794> like a horse <05483> charging recklessly <07857> into battle <04421>.
7Even <01571> the stork <02624> knows <03045> when it is time to move on <04150>. The turtledove <08449>, swallow <05693>, and crane <05483> recognize <08104> the normal times <06256> for their migration <0935>. But my people <05971> pay <03045> no <03808> attention <03045> to what I, the Lord <03068>, require <04941> of them.
8How <0349> can you say <0559>, “We are wise <02450>! We <0587> have the law <08451> of the Lord <03068>”? The truth is, those who teach <05608> it have used their writings <05842> to make <06213> it say what it does not really mean <08267>.
9Your wise <02450> men will be put to shame <0954>. They will be dumbfounded <02865> and be brought <03920> to judgment. Since <02009> they have rejected <03988> the word <01697> of the Lord <03068>, what <04100> wisdom <02451> do they really have?
10So <03651> I will give <05414> their wives <0802> to other <0312> men and their fields <07704> to new owners <03423>. For <03588> from the least important <06996> to <05704> the most important <01419> of them, all <03605> of them are greedy <01214> for dishonest gain <01215>. Prophets <05030> and <05704> priests <03548> alike, all <03605> practice <06213> deceit <08267>.
11They offer only superficial <07043> help for the hurt my dear <01323> people <05971> have suffered <07667>. They say <0559>, “Everything will be all right <07965>!” But everything <07965> is not <0369> all right <07965>!
12Are they ashamed <03001> because <03588> they have done <06213> such <01571> disgusting things <08441>? No, they are not <03808> at all ashamed <0954> <0954>! They do not <03808> even know <03045> how to blush <03637>! So <03651> they will die <05307> just like <03651> others have died <05307>. They will be brought to ruin <03782> when <06256> I punish <06486> them, says <0559> the Lord <03068>.
13I will take away <05486> their harvests, says <05002> the Lord <03069>. There will be no <0369> grapes <06025> on their vines <01612>. There will be no <0369> figs <08384> on their fig trees <08384>. Even the leaves <05929> on their trees will wither <05034>. The crops that I gave <05414> them <01992> will be taken away <05674>.’”
14The people say, “Why <04100> are we <0587> just sitting <03427> here? Let us gather together <0622> inside <0935> the fortified <04013> cities <05892>. Let us at least die <01826> there <08033> fighting, since <03588> the Lord <03068> our God <0430> has condemned us to die <01826>. He has condemned us to drink <08248> the poison <07219> waters <04325> of judgment because <03588> we have sinned <02398> against him <03068>.
15We hoped <06960> for good fortune <07965>, but nothing <0369> good <02896> has come of it. We hoped for a time <06256> of relief <04832>, but instead we experience terror <01205>.
16The snorting <05170> of the enemy’s horses <05483> is already being heard <08085> in the city of Dan <01835>. The sound <06963> of the neighing <04684> of their stallions <047> causes the whole <03605> land <0776> to tremble <07493> with fear. They are coming <0935> to destroy <0398> the land <0776> and everything <04393> in it! They are coming to destroy the cities <05892> and everyone who lives <03427> in them!”
17The <0853> Lord <03068> says <05002>, “Yes <03588> indeed <02005>, I am sending <07971> an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes <06848> snakes <05175> which <0834> cannot <0369> be charmed <03908> away. And they will inflict fatal wounds <05391> on you.”
18Then I said, “There is no cure <04010> for <05921> my grief <03015>! I am sick <01742> at <05921> heart <03820>!
19I hear <06963> my dear <01323> people <05971> crying out <07775> throughout the length and breadth <04801> of the land <0776>. They are crying, ‘Is the Lord <03068> no <0369> longer in Zion <06726>? Is her divine King <04428> no longer <0369> there?’” The Lord answers, “Why <04069> then do they provoke <03707> me to anger <03707> with their images <06456>, with their worthless <01892> foreign <05236> idols?”
20“They cry, ‘Harvest <07105> time has come and gone <05674>, and the summer <07019> is over <03615>, and still we <0587> have not <03808> been delivered <03467>.’
21My heart is crushed <07667> because my dear <01323> people <05971> are being crushed <07665>. I go about crying and grieving <06937>. I am overwhelmed <02388> with dismay <08047>.
22There is still medicinal ointment <06875> available in Gilead <01568>! There is still a physician <07495> there <08033>! Why <04069> then <03588> have my dear <01323> people <05971> not <03808> been restored <05927> to health <0724>?