Insensitivity toward sin
8:1 At that time, saith YHWH (יהוה), they shall bring out the bones of the melechim Yehudah, and the bones of his sarim (princes), and the bones of the Kohanim, and the bones of the Nevi'im, and the bones of the inhabitants of YeruShalayim, 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 YHWH (יהוה) Tzva'ot.
8:4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith YHWH (יהוה); Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
8:5 Why [then] is this people of YeruShalayim slidden back by a perpetual meshuvah? 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 YHWH (יהוה).
8:8 How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the Torah of YHWH (יהוה) [is] with us? Hinnei, 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:
Hinnei, they have rejected Dvar YHWH (יהוה); 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 ha Navi even unto ha kohen every one dealeth falsely.
8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the Bat Ami (My People) slightly, saying, shalom, shalom; when [there is] no shalom.
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 YHWH (יהוה).
8:13 I will surely consume them, saith YHWH (יהוה): [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 YHWH (יהוה) Eloheinu hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against YHWH (יהוה).
8:15 We looked for shalom, 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 YHWH (יהוה).
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 bat Ami (My People) because of them that dwell in a far country: [Is] not YHWH (יהוה) in Tzyon (ציון)? [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 Bat Ami (My People) am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
8:22 [Is there] no balm in Gil'ad; [is there] no physician there? why then is not the health of the Bat Ami (My people) recovered?