Jeremiah 8:1-7 - Death Over Life
1 Jehovah says: At that time the bones of the kings and the leaders of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the others who lived in Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves. 2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground. 3 Then the few who remain from these wicked people will want to die rather than live where I will scatter them, declares Jehovah of Hosts.
4 Say to them: 'This is what Jehovah says: When someone falls, he gets back up. When someone turns away from me, he returns.' 5 The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning. They still cling to deceit. They refuse to return. 6 I paid attention and listened, but they were not honest. They do not turn away from their wickedness. They do not ask: 'What have we done?' They go their own ways like horses charging into battle.' 7 Even storks know when it is time to return. Mourning doves, swallows (swifts), and cranes know when it is time to migrate. But my people do not know that I, Jehovah, am urging them to return.