Jeremiah 5
1 Run all of you back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if all of you can find a man, if there be any that executes judgment, that seeks the truth; and I will pardon it.
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 And though they say, The LORD lives; surely they swear falsely.
They may make promises in my name, but they're not sincere.
3 O LORD, are not your eyes upon the truth? you have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
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 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
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 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
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 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goes out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
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 How shall I pardon you for this? your children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
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 were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
They're like virile stallions wanting sex, each of them neighing with lust after his neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? says the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
10 Go all of you up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.
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 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, says the LORD.
The people of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me, declares the Lord.
12 They have lied concerning the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
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 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
The prophets are just like the wind. The Lord doesn't speak through them. What they predict can happen to them!”
14 Wherefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, Because all of you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
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 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, says the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you know not, neither understand what they say.
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 quiver is as an open tomb, they are all mighty men.
Their arrows bring death; they are all strong warriors.
17 And they shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat: they shall eat up your flocks and your herds: they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees: they shall impoverish your fenced cities, wherein you trusted, with the sword.
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 Nevertheless in those days, says the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
But even at that time I won't completely destroy you, declares the Lord.
19 And it shall come to pass, when all of you shall say, Wherefore does the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shall you answer them, Like all of you have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall all of you serve strangers in a land that is not your's.
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 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Announce this to the people of Jacob and Judah:
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Listen to this, you foolish, stupid people, who have eyes but don't see, who have ears but don't hear.
22 Fear all of you not me? says the LORD: will all of you not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
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 this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
But you people have a stubborn and rebellious attitude. You have left me and gone your own way.
24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserves unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
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 iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you.
Your wrong actions have taken these benefits from you; your sins have deprived you of my blessings.
26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
For there are wicked men among my people. They're like bird-trappers, secretly watching and waiting to catch people in their snare.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and becoming rich.
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 are becoming fat, they shine: yea, they pass over the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
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 Shall I not visit for these things? says the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Something horrible, something terrible has happened here in this country.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will all of you do in the end thereof?
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?
