Jeremiah 5

1 “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.

“Travel the streets of Jerusalem; and gaze, and consider, and seek, in its wide streets. If you can find a man exercising judgment and seeking faith, then I will be forgiving to them.

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

For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”

3 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.

O Lord, your eyes look with favor upon faith. You have struck them, and they have not grieved. You have bruised them, and they have refused to accept discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, and they are not willing to return.

4 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.

But I said: Perhaps these are the poor and the senseless, who are ignorant of the way of the Lord, of the judgment of their God.

5 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.

Therefore, I will go to great men, and I will speak with them. For they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. And behold, these ones have broken the yoke all the more; they have torn apart the bonds.

6 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.

For this reason, a lion from the forest has struck them down, a wolf toward evening has laid waste to them, a leopard lies in wait over their cities. All who go out from there will be taken. For their transgressions have been multiplied; their rebellions have been strengthened.

7 “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.

“Over which things am I able to be merciful to you? Your sons have forsaken me, and they swear by those who are not gods. I gave them everything, and they committed adultery, and they indulged themselves in the house of the harlot.

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

They have become like wild horses in heat; each one was neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

9 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?

Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation such as this?

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

Scale its walls and tear them down. But do not be willing to bring about its very end. Take away its plantings, for they are not the Lord’s.

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

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.

12 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.

They have denied the Lord, and they have said, ‘It is not him,’ and, ‘Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see famine and the sword.’

13 And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them, Thus it is done to them.”

The prophets have spoken into the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore, these things will happen to them.”

14 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.

Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Since you have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth like fire and this people like wood, and it will devour them.

15 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.

Behold, O house of Israel, I will lead over you a far away nation, says the Lord, a robust nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not know, nor will you understand what they are saying.

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

Their quiver is like an open sepulcher. They are all strong.

17 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.

And they will consume your grain fields and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vineyards and your figs. And with the sword, they will crush your fortified cities, in which you have placed your trust.

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

Yet truly, in those days, says the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.

19 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.

And if they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You shall say to them: ‘Just as you have abandoned me and have served a strange god in your own land, so will you serve strangers in a land not your own.’

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

Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it known in Judah, saying:

21 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.

Listen, O foolish people who have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears, but you do not hear.

22 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.

So then, will you not fear me, says the Lord. And will you not have sorrow before my face? I have placed the shore as a limit for the sea, as an everlasting precept that it will not transgress. And its waves will crash, but they will not prevail; and its waves will swell, but they will not go across.

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

But the heart of this people has become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away and departed.

24 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.

And they have not said in their heart: ‘Let us dread the Lord our God, who gives us the timely and the late rains, in their proper time, who guards the full measure of the yearly harvest for us.’

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

Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back good things from you.

26 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.

For the impious are found among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting snares, for they set traps to catch men.

27 As a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich.

Just as a snare is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result, they have become exalted and enriched.

28 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.

They have grown stout and fat. And they have transgressed my words most wickedly. They have not judged the case of the widow; they have not given guidance to the case of the orphan; and they have not judged a judgment for the poor.

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

Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?

30 An astonishing and horrible thing has been in the land:

Astonishing and wondrous things have been done upon the earth.

31 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?”

The prophets have prophesied lies, and the priests have applauded with their hands, and my people have loved these things. So then, what shall be done at the very end?”