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 to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, And see now and know, And seek in her broad places, If you find a man, If there is one doing judgment, Seeking steadfastness—Then I am propitious to her.

2 For though they say, The Lord liueth, yet doe they sweare falsely.

And if they say, YHWH lives, Surely they swear to a falsehood.”

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.

YHWH, Your eyes, are they not on steadfastness? You have struck them, and they have not grieved, You have consumed them, They have refused to receive instruction, They made their faces harder than a rock, They have refused to turn back.

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.

And I said, “Surely these [are] poor, They have been foolish, For they have not known the way of YHWH, The judgment 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 go to the great, and I speak with them, For they have known the way of YHWH, The judgment of their God.” Surely they have broken the yoke together, They have drawn away the bands.

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 out of the forest has struck them, A wolf of the deserts spoils them, A leopard is watching over their cities, Everyone who is going out of them is torn, For their transgressions have been many, Their backslidings have been mighty.

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.

“I am not propitious to you for this, Your sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by [those who are] not gods, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together.

8 They rose vp in the morning like fed horses: for euery man neyed after his neighbours wife.

Fed horses—they have been early risers, They each neigh to the wife of his neighbor.

9 Shall I not visite for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this?

Do I not lay a charge for these?” A declaration of YHWH, “And on a nation such as this, Does My soul not avenge itself?

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 on her walls, and destroy, And I do not make a completion, Turn her branches aside, For they [are] not YHWH’s,

11 For the house of Israel, and the house of Iudah haue grieuously trespassed against me, saith the Lord.

For the house of Israel has dealt treacherously against Me, And the house of Judah,” A declaration of YHWH.

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 against YHWH, And they say, “[It is] not He, Nor does evil come in against us, Indeed, we do not see sword and famine.

13 And the Prophetes shall be as winde, and the worde is not in them: thus shall it come vnto them.

And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them, Thus it is done to 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, thus said YHWH, God of Hosts: “Because of your speaking this word, Behold, I am making My words become fire in your mouth, And this people wood, And it has devoured them.

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 against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel,” A declaration of YHWH, “It [is] a strong nation, It [is] an ancient nation, A nation whose tongue you do not know, Nor understand what it speaks.

16 Whose quiuer is as an open sepulchre: they are all very strong.

Its quiver [is] as an open tomb, All of them—mighty ones.

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.

And it has consumed your harvest and your bread, They consume your sons, and your daughters, It consumes your flock, and your herd, It consumes your vine and your fig tree, It makes your fortified cities poor, In which you are trusting—by the sword.

18 Neuerthelesse at those dayes, sayth the Lord, I will not make a full ende of you.

And even in those days,” A declaration of YHWH, “I do not make you a completion.

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 it has come to pass, when you say, Why has our God YHWH done all these [things] to us? That you have said to them, As you have forsaken Me, And serve the gods of a foreigner in your land, So you serve strangers in a land [that is] not yours.

20 Declare this in the house of Iaakob, and publish it in Iudah, saying,

Declare this in the house of Jacob, And sound it in Judah, saying,

21 Heare nowe this, O foolish people, and without vnderstanding, which haue eyes and see not, which haue eares and heare not.

Now hear this, O people, foolish and without heart, They have eyes, and they do not see, They have ears, and they 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?” A declaration of YHWH; “Are you not pained from My presence? Who has made sand the border of the sea, A perpetual limit, and it does not pass over it, They shake themselves, and they are not able, Indeed, its billows have sounded, and they do not pass over.

23 But this people hath an vnfaithfull and rebellious heart: they are departed and gone.

And this people has an apostatizing and rebelling heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.

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.

And they have not said in their heart, Now let us fear our God YHWH, who is giving rain, The autumn rain and the spring rain, in its season, He keeps the appointed weeks of harvest for us.

25 Yet your iniquities haue turned away these things, and your sinnes haue hindred good things from you.

Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have kept the good from you.

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 the wicked have been found among My people. He watches like one who sets snares, They have set up a trap—they capture men.

27 As a cage is full of birdes, so are their houses full of deceite: thereby they are become great and waxen riche.

As a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are 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 been fat, they have shone, Indeed, they have surpassed the acts of the evil, They have not judged judgment, The judgment of the fatherless—and they prosper, And they have not judged the judgment 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?

Do I not inspect for these,” A declaration of YHWH, “On a nation such as this, Does My soul not avenge itself?

30 An horrible and filthie thing is committed in the land.

An astonishing and horrible thing has been 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 have prophesied falsely, And the priests bear rule by their means, And My people have loved [it] so, And what do they do at its latter end?”