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.

Run you about in the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and seek in her broad places, if you can find [one], if there is any one that does judgment, and seeks faithfulness; and I will pardon them, says the Lord.

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

The Lord lives, they say; do they not therefore 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 are upon faithfulness: you have scourged them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them; but they would not receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; and they would not 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.

Then I said, It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they know not the way of the Lord, or the judgment of 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.

I will go to the rich men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of God: but, behold, with one consent they have broken the yoke, they have burst 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.

Therefore has a lion out of the forest struck them, and a wolf has destroyed them even to [their] houses, and a leopard has watched against their cities: all that go forth from them shall be hunted: for they have multiplied their ungodliness, they have strengthened themselves in their revoltings.

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.

In what [way] shall I forgive you for these things? Your sons have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: and I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in harlots' houses.

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

They became as wanton horses: they neighed each one 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 for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation 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,

Go up upon her battlements, and break [them] down; but make not a full end: leave her buttresses: for they are 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 have indeed dealt treacherously against me, says the Lord: the house of Juda also

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.

have lied to their Lord, and they have said, These things are not so; no evils shall come upon us; and we shall not see sword or famine.

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

Our prophets became wind, and the word of the Lord was not in 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.

Therefore thus says the Lord Almighty, Because you have spoken this word, behold, I have made my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall 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, I [will] bring upon you a nation from far, O house of Israel, says the Lord; a nation the sound of whose language one shall not understand.

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

[They are] all mighty men:

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 shall devour your harvest, and your bread; and shall devour your sons, and your daughters; and they shall devour your sheep, and your calves, and devour your vineyards, and your fig-plantations, and your olive yards: and they shall utterly destroy your strong cities, wherein you trusted, with the sword.

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

And it shall come to pass in those days, says the Lord your God, that I will not utterly destroy 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 it shall come to pass, when you shall say, Therefore has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you shall say to them, Because you served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

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

Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Juda.

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.

Hear you now these things, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes, and see not; and have ears, and hear not:

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.

will you not be afraid of me? says the Lord; and will you not fear before me, who have set the sand for a bound to the sea, [as] a perpetual ordinance, and it shall not pass it: yes, it shall rage, but not prevail; and its waves shall roar, but not pass over it.

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

But this people has a disobedient and rebellious heart; and they have turned aside and gone back:

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 fear now the Lord our God, who gives us the early and latter rain, according to the season of the fulfillment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved [it] for us.

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

Your transgressions have turned away these things, and your sins have removed 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 among my people were found ungodly men; and they have set snares to destroy men, and have caught [them].

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

As a snare which has been set is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore have they grown great, and become rich:

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.

and they have transgressed [the rule of] judgment; they have not judged the cause of the orphan, nor have they judged the cause of the widow.

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 for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

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

Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;

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 utter unrighteous prophecies, and the priests have clapped their hands: and my people has loved [to have it] thus: and what will you do for the future.