Jeremiah 5
1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
“Travel the streets of Jerusalem; and gaze, and consider, and seek, in its wide streets. If you can find a man exercising judgment and seeking faith, then I will be forgiving to them.
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”
3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
O Lord, your eyes look with favor upon faith. You have struck them, and they have not grieved. You have bruised them, and they have refused to accept discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, and they are not willing to return.
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
But I said: Perhaps these are the poor and the senseless, who are ignorant of the way of the Lord, of the judgment of their God.
5 I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
Therefore, I will go to great men, and I will speak with them. For they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. And behold, these ones have broken the yoke all the more; they have torn apart the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
For this reason, a lion from the forest has struck them down, a wolf toward evening has laid waste to them, a leopard lies in wait over their cities. All who go out from there will be taken. For their transgressions have been multiplied; their rebellions have been strengthened.
7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
“Over which things am I able to be merciful to you? Your sons have forsaken me, and they swear by those who are not gods. I gave them everything, and they committed adultery, and they indulged themselves in the house of the harlot.
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
They have become like wild horses in heat; each one was neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation such as this?
10 Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
Scale its walls and tear them down. But do not be willing to bring about its very end. Take away its plantings, for they are not the Lord’s.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,”
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.
12 They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
They have denied the Lord, and they have said, ‘It is not him,’ and, ‘Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see famine and the sword.’
13 The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
The prophets have spoken into the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore, these things will happen to them.”
14 Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Since you have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth like fire and this people like wood, and it will devour them.
15 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
Behold, O house of Israel, I will lead over you a far away nation, says the Lord, a robust nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not know, nor will you understand what they are saying.
16 Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
Their quiver is like an open sepulcher. They are all strong.
17 They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
And they will consume your grain fields and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vineyards and your figs. And with the sword, they will crush your fortified cities, in which you have placed your trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
Yet truly, in those days, says the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.
19 And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
And if they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You shall say to them: ‘Just as you have abandoned me and have served a strange god in your own land, so will you serve strangers in a land not your own.’
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it known in Judah, saying:
21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
Listen, O foolish people who have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears, but you do not hear.
22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
So then, will you not fear me, says the Lord. And will you not have sorrow before my face? I have placed the shore as a limit for the sea, as an everlasting precept that it will not transgress. And its waves will crash, but they will not prevail; and its waves will swell, but they will not go across.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
But the heart of this people has become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away and departed.
24 They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
And they have not said in their heart: ‘Let us dread the Lord our God, who gives us the timely and the late rains, in their proper time, who guards the full measure of the yearly harvest for us.’
25 Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back good things from you.
26 For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
For the impious are found among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting snares, for they set traps to catch men.
27 Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
Just as a snare is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result, they have become exalted and enriched.
28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
They have grown stout and fat. And they have transgressed my words most wickedly. They have not judged the case of the widow; they have not given guidance to the case of the orphan; and they have not judged a judgment for the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?
30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
Astonishing and wondrous things have been done upon the earth.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
The prophets have prophesied lies, and the priests have applauded with their hands, and my people have loved these things. So then, what shall be done at the very end?”
