1 “At that time,” says the LORD, “they will bring the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
2 They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, after which they have walked, which they have sought, and which they have worshipped. They will not be gathered or be buried. They will be like dung on the surface of the earth.
3 Death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the LORD of Armies.
4 “Moreover you shall tell them, ‘The LORD says:
5 Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding?
6 I listened and heard, but they didn’t say what is right.
7 Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times.
8 “‘How do you say, “We are wise, and the LORD’s law is with us”?
9 The wise men are disappointed.
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
11 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying,
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
13 “‘I will utterly consume them, says the LORD.
14 “Why do we sit still?
15 We looked for peace, but no good came;
16 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan.
17 “For, behold, I will send serpents,
18 Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow!
19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off:
20 “The harvest is past.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am hurt.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?