Daily Bread

“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?^(A)
    When someone turns away,^(B) do they not return?
⁵ Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;^(C)
    they refuse to return.^(D)
6 I have listened^(E) attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent^(F) of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course^(G)
    like a horse charging into battle.
⁷ 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^(H)
    the requirements of the Lord.

⁸ “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
    for we have the law^(I) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?
⁹ The wise^(J) will be put to shame;
    they will be dismayed^(K) and trapped.^(L)
Since they have rejected the word^(M) of the Lord,
    what kind of wisdom^(N) do they have?
¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to other men
    and their fields to new owners.^(O)
From the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain;^(P)
prophets^(Q) and priests alike,
    all practice deceit.^(R)
11 They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
    when there is no peace.^(S)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame^(T) at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when they are punished,^(U)
says the Lord.^(V)

¹³ “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
    There will be no grapes on the vine.^(W)
There will be no figs^(X) on the tree,
    and their leaves will wither.^(Y)
What I have given them
    will be taken^(Z) from them.^[a]’”

¹⁴ Why are we sitting here?
    Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities^(AA)
    and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and given us poisoned water^(AB) to drink,
    because we have sinned^(AC) against him.
¹⁵ We hoped for peace^(AD)
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(AE)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses^(AF)
    is heard from Dan;^(AG)
at the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land trembles.^(AH)
They have come to devour^(AI)
    the land and everything in it,
    the city and all who live there.

¹⁷ “See, I will send venomous snakes^(AJ) among you,
    vipers that cannot be charmed,^(AK)
    and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁸ You who are my Comforter^[b] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint^(AL) within me.
¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:^(AM)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King^(AN) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused^(AO) my anger with their images,
    with their worthless^(AP) foreign idols?”^(AQ)

²⁰ “The harvest is past,
    the summer has ended,
    and we are not saved.”

²¹ Since my people are crushed,^(AR) I am crushed;
    I mourn,^(AS) and horror grips me.
²² Is there no balm in Gilead?^(AT)
    Is there no physician^(AU) there?
Why then is there no healing^(AV)
    for the wound of my people?

³ “They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;^(BC)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph^[d] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge^(BD) me,”
declares the Lord.
⁴ “Beware of your friends;^(BE)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.^(BF)
For every one of them is a deceiver,^[e](BG)
    and every friend a slanderer.^(BH)
5 Friend deceives friend,^(BI)
    and no one speaks the truth.^(BJ)
They have taught their tongues to lie;^(BK)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
⁶ You^[f] live in the midst of deception;^(BL)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.