Jeremiah 5

1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if ye can find a man, if there is any who does justly, who seeks truth, and I will pardon her.

2 And though they say, As Jehovah lives, surely they swear falsely.

3 O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? Thou have stricken them, but they were not grieved. Thou have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

4 Then I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God.

5 I will go to the great men, and will speak to them, for they know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them; a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

7 How can I pardon thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and sworn by those who are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses.

8 They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy, but make not a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, says Jehovah.

12 They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he. Neither shall evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine.

13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.

14 Therefore thus says Jehovah, the God of hosts: Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou know not, nor understand what they say.

16 Their quiver is an open sepulcher. They are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat. They shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds. They shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees. They shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trust, with the sword.

18 But even in those days, says Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why has Jehovah our God done all these things to us? Then thou shall say to them, Just as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so ye shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

20 Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, who have eyes, and see not, who have ears, and hear not:

22 Do ye not fear me? says Jehovah. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail, though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.

24 Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.

26 For among my people are found wicked men. They watch as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grown rich.

28 They have grown fat. They shine. Yea, they overflow in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper. And they do not judge the right of the needy.

29 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 An astonishing and horrible thing has come to pass in the land.

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof?