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.

2 They may make promises in my name, but they're not sincere.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

8 They're like virile stallions wanting sex, each of them neighing with lust 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?

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.

11 The people of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me, declares the Lord.

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.

13 The prophets are just like the wind. The Lord doesn't speak through them. What they predict can 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.

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.

16 Their arrows bring death; they are all strong warriors.

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.

18 But even at that time I won't completely destroy you, declares the Lord.

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.”

20 Announce this to the people of Jacob and Judah:

21 Listen to this, you foolish, stupid people, who have eyes but don't see, who have ears but don't hear.

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.

23 But you people have a stubborn and rebellious attitude. You have left me and gone your own way.

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.”

25 Your wrong actions have taken these benefits from you; your sins have deprived you of my blessings.

26 For there are wicked men among my people. They're like bird-trappers, secretly watching and waiting to catch people in their snare.

27 Their homes are full of their ill-gotten gains, like cages full of birds. That's why they've become powerful 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.

29 Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?

30 Something horrible, something terrible has happened here in this country.

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?