Jeremiah 5

1 Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and notice, and search in its broad places, if ye can find one man, if there be one that executeth justice, that searcheth for truth: and I will pardon it.

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 And though they say, “As the Lord liveth!” surely they only swear to a falsehood.

Yea, though they say, “As Jehovah liveth!” Yet do they swear falsely.

3 O Lord, are not thy eyes [directed] to the truth? thou didst strike them, but they felt it not; thou didst make an end of them, [yet] they refused to accept correction: they made their faces harder than a rock, they refused to return.

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 Yet I myself thought, Oh these are but poor; they are foolish; for they knew not the way of the Lord, the ordinance of their God.

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 I had better go unto the great men, and let me speak with them; for these surely know the way of the Lord, the ordinance of their God; but these altogether have broken the yoke, burst the bands.

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 Therefore slayeth them the lion out of the forest, the wolf of the deserts wasteth them, the leopard lieth in wait against their cities: every one that cometh out thence shall be torn in pieces; because many are their transgressions, very numerous are their backslidings.

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 How shall I for this pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by those that are not gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's house.

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 As robust horses they rose by times in the morning: every one neighed after the wife of his neighbor.

They are as well-fed horses in the morning; Every one neigheth after his neighbor's wife.

9 Shall I not for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: and shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?

Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

10 Scale ye her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: remove her young shoots; for they are not the Lord's.

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 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord.

For they have proved false to me, The house of Israel and the house of Judah, saith Jehovah.

12 They have denied the Lord, and said, “He existeth not; nor will evil come over us; and the sword and famine shall we not see.

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 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them:” thus shall it be done unto them.

The prophets are but wind, And the word is not in them; Thus may it happen to them!”

14 Therefore thus hath said the Lord the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth to be a fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

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 Lo, I will bring over you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is a most ancient nation, a nation whose language thou wilt not know, and thou wilt not understand what they speak.

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 quiver is as an open sepulchre: they are all mighty men.

Their quiver is like an open sepulchre; They are all mighty men.

17 And they shall consume thy harvest, and thy bread; they shall consume thy sons and thy daughters; they shall consume thy flocks and thy herds; they shall consume thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall depopulate thy fortified cities, those wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

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 Nevertheless even in those days, saith the Lord, will I not make a full end of you.

Yet even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye will say, For what reason hath the Lord our God done all these things unto us? that thou shalt say unto them, In the same manner as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

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 in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, And publish it in Judah, saying:

21 Do now hear this, O sottish people, who have no heart; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not;

Hear ye now this, O foolish people and without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, Who have ears and hear not!

22 Will ye not fear me? saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand as a bound for the sea by an everlasting law, which it can never pass over? and though the waves thereof be upheaved, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

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 this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart: they have departed [from the right] and have gone their way.

But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; They revolt continually.

24 And they have not said in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, the early and the latter rain, in its season: the appointed weeks of the harvest doth he ever preserve for us.

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 iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden what is good from you.

Your iniquities have turned away these things, And your sins have withholden that which is good from you.

26 For there are found among my people wicked men: they lie in wait, as he that layeth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

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 As a coop is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore are they become great, and grown rich.

As a cage is full of birds, So are their houses full of fraud. Therefore are they grown great and rich;

28 They are grown fat, they are stout; yea, they surpass even the deeds of the wicked: they pronounce no [just] sentence, the sentence of the fatherless, that they might prosper; and the cause of the needy do they not judge.

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 shall I not for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: or shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?

Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 An astonishing and horrible thing is committed in the land;

Astonishing and horrible is that which is done in this land;

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; but what will ye do in the end thereof?

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?