Jeremiah 5

1 Go quickly through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and get knowledge, and make a search in her wide places if there is a man, if there is one in her who is upright, who keeps faith; and she will have my forgiveness.

RUN ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

2 And though they say, By the living Lord; truly their oaths are false.

And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely.

3 O Lord, do not your eyes see good faith? you have given them punishment, but they were not troubled; you have sent destruction on them, but they did not take your teaching to heart: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they would not come back.

O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast 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, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God.

Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.

5 I will go to the great men and have talk with them; for they have knowledge of the way of the Lord and of the behaviour desired by their God. But as for these, their one purpose is a broken yoke and burst bands.

I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 And so a lion from the woods will put them to death, a wolf of the waste land will make them waste, a leopard will keep watch on their towns, and everyone who goes out from them will be food for the beasts; because of the great number of their sins and the increase of their wrongdoing.

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

7 How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women.

How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.

8 They were full of desire, like horses after a meal of grain: everyone went after his neighbour's wife.

They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

9 Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this?

Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go up against her vines and make waste; let the destruction be complete: take away her branches, for they are not the Lord's.

Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the Lord’s.

11 For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have been very false to me, says the Lord.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord.

12 They would have nothing to do with the Lord, saying, He will do nothing, and no evil will come to us; we will not see the sword or be short of food:

They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

13 And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them; so it will be done to them.

And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 For this reason the Lord, the God of armies, has said: Because you have said this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and they will be burned up by it.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord 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 See, I will send you a nation from far away, O people of Israel, says the Lord; a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language is strange to you, so that you may not get the sense of their words.

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16 Their arrows give certain death, they are all men of war.

Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

17 They will take all the produce of your fields, which would have been food for your sons and your daughters: they will take your flocks and your herds: they will take all your vines and your fig-trees: and with the sword they will make waste your walled towns in which you put your faith.

And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

18 But even in those days, says the Lord, I will not let your destruction be complete.

Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it will come about, when you say, Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you will say to them, As you gave me up, making yourselves servants to strange gods in your land, so will you be servants to strange men in a land which is not yours.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

20 Say this openly in Jacob and give it out in Judah, saying,

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

21 Give ear now to this, O foolish people without sense; who have eyes but see nothing, and ears without the power of hearing:

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

22 Have you no fear of me? says the Lord; will you not be shaking with fear before me, who have put the sand as a limit for the sea, by an eternal order, so that it may not go past it? and though it is ever in motion, it is not able to have its way; though the sound of its waves is loud, they are not able to go past it.

Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which 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 can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

23 But the heart of this people is uncontrolled and turned away from me; they are broken loose and gone.

But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

24 And they do not say in their hearts, Now let us give worship to our God, who gives the rain, the winter and the spring rain, at the right time; who keeps for us the ordered weeks of the grain-cutting.

Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

25 Through your evil-doing these things have been turned away, and your sins have kept back good from you.

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

26 For there are sinners among my people: they keep watch, like men watching for birds; they put a net and take men in it.

For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

27 As the fowl-house is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: for this reason they have become great and have got wealth.

As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

28 They have become fat and strong: they have gone far in works of evil: they give no support to the cause of the child without a father, so that they may do well; they do not see that the poor man gets his rights.

They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

29 Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this?

Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 A thing of wonder and fear has come about in the land;

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

31 The prophets give false words and the priests give decisions by their direction; and my people are glad to have it so: and what will you do in the end?

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?