Jeremiah 5
1 Go everywhere through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and pay attention! Search all through her city squares to see if you can find even just one person who does what's right, anyone who is faithful, and I'll forgive the city.
Run ye through the streets of Jerusalem, [[saith Jehovah, ]] And see now, and know, and seek in her broad places If ye can find a single man, If there be one that doeth justice, That seeketh uprightness, And I will forgive her.
2 They may make promises in my name, but they're not sincere.
Yea, though they say, “As Jehovah liveth!” Yet do they swear falsely.
3 Lord, aren't you always looking for faithfulness? You beat them, but they didn't care. You just about destroyed them, but they refused to accept your discipline. They were stubborn, hard as rock, and they wouldn't repent.
Are not thine eyes upon the truth, O Jehovah! Thou hast smitten 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 to myself, “These people are only the poor—they're just fools who don't know any better. They certainly don't know what the Lord wants, God's right way of living.
Then I said, These are only the poor; They are foolish, because they know not the way of Jehovah, The law of their God.
5 Let me go to and talk to the ones in charge. They would surely know what the Lord wants, God's right way of living.” But they had all broken off the yoke as well, and ripped off the chains.
I will get me to the great ones, And I will speak to them; For they know the way of Jehovah, The law of their God. But these also have together broken the yoke; They have burst the bands.
6 As a result a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will rip them apart. A leopard will lie in wait for them near their towns, ready to tear to pieces anyone who goes outside. For they keep on rebelling, and turn away from me so often.
Therefore the lion out of the forest shall slay them, And the evening wolf shall destroy them. The leopard shall keep watch upon their cities; Every one that goeth out from them shall be torn in pieces; Because their transgressions are multiplied, Their rebellions are increased.
7 Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned me and believe in gods that are not gods. I gave them everything they need, yet they went and committed adultery, gathering together at prostitutes' houses.
How can I pardon thee for this? [[saith Jehovah; ]] Thy children have forsaken me, And sworn by them that are no gods. I have fed them to the full, yet do they commit adultery, And assemble themselves in crowds in the house of the harlot.
8 They're like virile stallions wanting sex, each of them neighing with lust after his neighbor's wife.
They are as well-fed horses in the morning; Every one neigheth after his neighbor's wife.
9 Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
10 Go through her vineyards and damage them, but don't destroy them completely. Rip off her branches, because they don't belong to the Lord.
Go ye up upon her walls and destroy! Yet make ye not a full end! Take ye away her branches, For they belong not to Jehovah!
11 The people of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me, declares the Lord.
For they have proved false to me, The house of Israel and the house of Judah, saith Jehovah.
12 They have lied about the Lord, saying, “He won't do anything. Nothing bad will happen to us. We won't have war or famine.
They have denied Jehovah, And have said, “It is not He; Evil shall not come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are just like the wind. The Lord doesn't speak through them. What they predict can happen to them!”
The prophets are but wind, And the word is not in them; Thus may it happen to them!”
14 So this is the reply from the Lord God Almighty: Because of what you've said, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth and you people like the wood it burns up.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, God of hosts: Because ye say such things, Behold, I will make thy words in thy mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them.
15 Look! I am bringing a nation from far away to attack you, people of Israel, declares the Lord. It's a powerful nation that has existed for a long time; it's a nation whose language you don't know, and when they speak you can't understand them.
Behold, I will bring against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah; It is a mighty nation; It is an ancient nation; A nation whose language thou dost not know, And whose words thou canst not understand.
16 Their arrows bring death; they are all strong warriors.
Their quiver is like an open sepulchre; They are all mighty men.
17 They will consume your harvest and your food; they will destroy your sons and your daughters; they will eat your flocks and your herds; they will feed on your vines and your fig trees. They will attack and will destroy the fortified towns that you have so much confidence in.
They shall consume thy harvest and thy bread; They shall consume thy sons and thy daughters; They shalt consume thy sheep and thy oxen; They shall consume thy vine and thy fig-tree; They shall destroy with the sword thy fortified cities, In which thou placest thy trust.
18 But even at that time I won't completely destroy you, declares the Lord.
Yet even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.
19 When people ask you Jeremiah, “Why did the Lord our God do all these things to us?” you are to tell them, “In the same way you have abandoned me and served foreign gods here in your country, so you will serve foreigners in a country that isn't your own.”
And when they shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God brought all these things upon us? Then shalt thou say to them, “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 Announce this to the people of Jacob and Judah:
Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, And publish it in Judah, saying:
21 Listen to this, you foolish, stupid people, who have eyes but don't see, who have ears but don't hear.
Hear ye now this, O foolish people and without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, Who have ears and hear not!
22 Aren't you afraid of what I can do? declares the Lord. Don't you think you should tremble in my presence? I am the one who set up the shore as the sea's boundary, an everlasting limit that it can't cross. The waves crash against it, but they can't defeat it. They roar, but they can't cross the barrier.
Will ye not fear me, saith Jehovah? Will ye not tremble before me, Who appointed the sand a bound to the sea, A perpetual barrier, which it cannot pass? Though the waves thereof toss themselves, Yet do they not prevail, Though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.
23 But you people have a stubborn and rebellious attitude. You have left me and gone your own way.
But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; They revolt continually.
24 You didn't think to say, “We should appreciate the Lord our God, who sends the autumn and spring rains at the right time, who makes sure we can have a harvest every year.”
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, Who giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, And secureth to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Your wrong actions have taken these benefits from you; your sins have deprived you of my blessings.
Your iniquities have turned away these things, And your sins have withholden that which is good from you.
26 For there are wicked men among my people. They're like bird-trappers, secretly watching and waiting to catch people in their snare.
For among my people are found wicked men, Who lie on the watch like fowlers; They set a trap that they may catch men.
27 Their homes are full of their ill-gotten gains, like cages full of birds. That's why they've become powerful and rich.
As a cage is full of birds, So are their houses full of fraud. Therefore are they grown great and rich;
28 They've grown fat and smooth, and have become experts in evil. They deny justice to orphans, and they don't defend the rights of those in need.
They have become fat and shine; Yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked; They maintain no cause, No cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; And the right of the needy do they not defend.
29 Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 Something horrible, something terrible has happened here in this country.
Astonishing and horrible is that which is done in this land;
31 The prophets give false prophecies; the priests rule as they please. My people love it like this, but what will you do when it all falls apart?
The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule under their guidance, And my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end of it?
