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I have given heed and listened,
    but they have not spoken aright;
no man repents of his wickedness,
    saying, ‘What have I done?’
Every one turns to his own course,
    like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
Even the stork in the heavens
    knows her times;
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane[a]
    keep the time of their coming;
but my people know not
    the ordinance of the Lord.[b]

“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
    and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the false pen of the scribes
    has made it into a lie.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  2. 8.7 cf. Is 1.3.

I have listened(A) attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent(B) of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course(C)
    like a horse charging into battle.
Even the stork in the sky
    knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
    observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know(D)
    the requirements of the Lord.

“‘How can you say, “We are wise,
    for we have the law(E) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?

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