Jeremiah 5
1 Run to and from by the streetes of Ierusalem, and beholde nowe, and knowe, and inquire in the open places thereof, if ye can finde a man, or if there be any that executeth iudgement, and seeketh the trueth, and I will spare it.
“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.
2 For though they say, The Lord liueth, yet doe they sweare falsely.
Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
3 O Lord, are not thine eyes vpon the trueth? thou hast striken them, but they haue not sorowed: thou hast consumed them, but they haue refused to receiue correction: they haue made their faces harder then a stone, and haue refused to returne.
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.
4 Therefore I saide, Surely they are poore, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the iudgement of their God.
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.
5 I will get me vnto the great men, and will speake vnto them: for they haue knowen the way of the Lord, and the iudgement of their God: but these haue altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bondes.
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.
6 Wherefore a lyon out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolfe of the wildernesse shall destroy them: a leopard shall watch ouer their cities: euery one that goeth out thence, shall be torne in pieces, because their trespasses are many, and their rebellions are increased.
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.
7 Howe should I spare thee for this? thy children haue forsaken me, and sworne by them that are no gods: though I fed them to the full, yet they committed adulterie, and assembled them selues by companies in the harlots houses.
“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.
8 They rose vp in the morning like fed horses: for euery man neyed after his neighbours wife.
They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not visite for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this?
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10 Clime vp vpon their walles, and destroy them, but make not a full ende: take away their batilments, for they are not the Lords.
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.
11 For the house of Israel, and the house of Iudah haue grieuously trespassed against me, saith the Lord.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,”
12 They haue denied the Lord, and saide, It is not he, neither shall the plague come vpon vs, neither shall we see sworde nor famine.
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.
13 And the Prophetes shall be as winde, and the worde is not in them: thus shall it come vnto them.
The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hostes, Because ye speake such wordes, beholde, I will put my wordes into thy mouth, like a fire, and this people shall be as wood, and it shall deuoure them.
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.
15 Loe, I will bring a nation vpon you from farre, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, which is a mightie nation, and an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither vnderstandest what they say.
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.
16 Whose quiuer is as an open sepulchre: they are all very strong.
Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
17 And they shall eate thine haruest and thy bread: they shall deuoure thy sonnes and thy daughters: they shall eate vp thy sheepe and thy bullocks: they shall eate thy vines and thy figge trees: they shall destroy with the sworde thy fenced cities, wherein thou didest trust.
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.”
18 Neuerthelesse at those dayes, sayth the Lord, I will not make a full ende of you.
“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
19 And when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God doe these things vnto vs? then shalt thou answere them, Like as ye haue forsaken me and serued strange gods in your land, so shall ye serue strangers in a land that is not yours.
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.’”
20 Declare this in the house of Iaakob, and publish it in Iudah, saying,
Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Heare nowe this, O foolish people, and without vnderstanding, which haue eyes and see not, which haue eares and heare not.
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
22 Feare ye not me, saith the Lord? or will ye not be afraide at my presence, which haue placed the sand for the bounds of the sea by the perpetuall decree that it cannot passe it, and though the waues thereof rage, yet can they not preuaile, though they roare, yet can they not passe ouer it?
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.
23 But this people hath an vnfaithfull and rebellious heart: they are departed and gone.
But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
24 For they say not in their heart, Let vs nowe feare the Lord our God, that giueth raine both early and late in due season: hee reserueth vnto vs the appointed weekes of the haruest.
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.’
25 Yet your iniquities haue turned away these things, and your sinnes haue hindred good things from you.
Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
26 For among my people are founde wicked persons, that lay waite as hee that setteth snares: they haue made a pit, to catch men.
For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birdes, so are their houses full of deceite: thereby they are become great and waxen riche.
Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
28 They are waxen fat and shining: they doe ouerpasse the deedes of the wicked: they execute no iudgement, no not the iudgement of the fatherlesse: yet they prosper, though they execute no iudgement for the poore.
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.
29 Shall I not visite for these things, sayth the Lord? or shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this?
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
30 An horrible and filthie thing is committed in the land.
A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
31 The Prophets prophesie lies, and ye Priests receiue giftes in their handes, and my people delite therein. What will ye then doe in the ende thereof?
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?
