Jeremiah 8:7
“Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.”
Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?
Counter-Arguments
The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.
Cross-References
“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.”
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.”
“Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:”
“Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.”