The calamity of the Jews, both dead and alive, 1-3. He upbraids their foolish and shameless impenitence, 4-12. He shows their grievous judgment, 13-17; and bewails their desperate estate, 18-22.
1 "At that time," says the LORD, "they shall bring the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes, the bones of the priests, 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, the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, whom they have served, after whom they have walked, whom they have sought, and whom they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered, nor be buried. They shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. 3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them," says the LORD of hosts.
4 "Moreover, you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD:
"Shall they fall and not arise?/
Shall he turn away and not return?
5 Why then has this people of Jerusalem slid 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 repented of his wickedness,/
saying, 'What have I done?'/
Everyone turned to his course,/
as the horse rushes to the battle.
7 Even the stork in the heaven/
knows her appointed times./
And the turtle-dove, the crane, and the swallow/
observe the time of their coming./
But my people do not know/
the judgment of the LORD.
8 How do you say, 'We are wise,/
and the law of the LORD is with us'?/
Behold, certainly in vain he has made it./
The pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed./
They are dismayed and taken./
Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD./
And what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore, I will give their wives to others/
and their fields to those who inherit them,/
for everyone from the least even to the greatest/
is given to covetousness,/
from the prophet even to the priest/
each deals falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,/
saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?/
No. They were not at all ashamed,/
neither could they blush./
Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall./
In the time of their visitation they shall be cast down,"/
says the LORD.
13 "I will surely consume them," says 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 to them shall pass away from them."'"
14 Why do we sit still?/
Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities/
and be silent there./
For the LORD our God has put us to silence/
and given us water of gall to drink/
because we have sinned against the LORD.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came,/
and for a time of health, and behold, trouble!
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 have come and have devoured the land and all that is in it,/
and also the city and those who dwell therein.
17 "For behold, I will send serpents among you,/
adders which will not be charmed,/
and they shall bite you," says the LORD.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow,/
my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people/
because of those who dwell in a distant country:/
"Is the LORD not in Zion?/
Is her king not in her?"/
"Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images/
and with strange vanities?"
20 "The harvest has past, the summer has ended,/
and we are not saved."
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt./
I am black. Astonishment has taken hold upon me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?/
Is there no physician there?/
Why then is the health/
of the daughter of my people not recovered?
Matthew Henry Commentary - Jeremiah, Chapter 8[➚]
[v.6] - "No man repented of his wickedness" - This is the sign of a false conversion. Notice from verse 5 that the people of Jerusalem have backslid. A true conversion must have repentance, as Paul shows in 2nd Corinthians 7:10, which says, "godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of..." See also, Isaiah 59:20; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 3:19, 17:30-31; Revelation 3:19.