Jeremiah 5

1 “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.

Run you about in the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and seek in her broad places, if you can find [one], if there is any one that does judgment, and seeks faithfulness; and I will pardon them, says the Lord.

2 For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”

The Lord lives, they say; do they not therefore swear falsely?

3 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.

O Lord, your eyes are upon faithfulness: you have scourged them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them; but they would not receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; and they would not return.

4 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.

Then I said, It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they know not the way of the Lord, or the judgment of God.

5 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.

I will go to the rich men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of God: but, behold, with one consent they have broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds.

6 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.

Therefore has a lion out of the forest struck them, and a wolf has destroyed them even to [their] houses, and a leopard has watched against their cities: all that go forth from them shall be hunted: for they have multiplied their ungodliness, they have strengthened themselves in their revoltings.

7 “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.

In what [way] shall I forgive you for these things? Your sons have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: and I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in harlots' houses.

8 They have become like wild horses in heat; each one was neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

They became as wanton horses: they neighed each one after his neighbor's wife.

9 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation such as this?

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

10 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.

Go up upon her battlements, and break [them] down; but make not a full end: leave her buttresses: for they are the Lord's.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.

For the house of Israel have indeed dealt treacherously against me, says the Lord: the house of Juda also

12 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.’

have lied to their Lord, and they have said, These things are not so; no evils shall come upon us; and we shall not see sword or famine.

13 The prophets have spoken into the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore, these things will happen to them.”

Our prophets became wind, and the word of the Lord was not in them.

14 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.

Therefore thus says the Lord Almighty, Because you have spoken this word, behold, I have made my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 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.

Behold, I [will] bring upon you a nation from far, O house of Israel, says the Lord; a nation the sound of whose language one shall not understand.

16 Their quiver is like an open sepulcher. They are all strong.

[They are] all mighty men:

17 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.

and they shall devour your harvest, and your bread; and shall devour your sons, and your daughters; and they shall devour your sheep, and your calves, and devour your vineyards, and your fig-plantations, and your olive yards: and they shall utterly destroy your strong cities, wherein you trusted, with the sword.

18 Yet truly, in those days, says the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.

And it shall come to pass in those days, says the Lord your God, that I will not utterly destroy you.

19 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.’

And it shall come to pass, when you shall say, Therefore has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you shall say to them, Because you served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

20 Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it known in Judah, saying:

Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Juda.

21 Listen, O foolish people who have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears, but you do not hear.

Hear you now these things, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes, and see not; and have ears, and hear not:

22 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.

will you not be afraid of me? says the Lord; and will you not fear before me, who have set the sand for a bound to the sea, [as] a perpetual ordinance, and it shall not pass it: yes, it shall rage, but not prevail; and its waves shall roar, but not pass over it.

23 But the heart of this people has become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away and departed.

But this people has a disobedient and rebellious heart; and they have turned aside and gone back:

24 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.’

and they have not said in their heart, Let us fear now the Lord our God, who gives us the early and latter rain, according to the season of the fulfillment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved [it] for us.

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

Your transgressions have turned away these things, and your sins have removed good things from you.

26 For the impious are found among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting snares, for they set traps to catch men.

For among my people were found ungodly men; and they have set snares to destroy men, and have caught [them].

27 Just as a snare is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result, they have become exalted and enriched.

As a snare which has been set is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore have they grown great, and become rich:

28 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.

and they have transgressed [the rule of] judgment; they have not judged the cause of the orphan, nor have they judged the cause of the widow.

29 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?

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

30 Astonishing and wondrous things have been done upon the earth.

Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;

31 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?”

the prophets utter unrighteous prophecies, and the priests have clapped their hands: and my people has loved [to have it] thus: and what will you do for the future.