Jeremiah 8:17-22

The Message

¹⁷“‘What’s more, I’m dispatching
    poisonous snakes among you,
Snakes that can’t be charmed,
    snakes that will bite you and kill you.’”
        God’s Decree!

Advancing from One Evil to the Next

^18-22I drown in grief.
    I’m heartsick.
Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people
    reverberating through the country.
Is God no longer in Zion?
    Has the King gone away?
Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods,
    their silly, imported no-gods before me?
The crops are in, the summer is over,
    but for us nothing’s changed.
    We’re still waiting to be rescued.
For my dear broken people, I’m heartbroken.
    I weep, seized by grief.
Are there no healing ointments in Gilead?
    Isn’t there a doctor in the house?
So why can’t something be done
    to heal and save my dear, dear people?