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.
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.
2 And if they say, YHWH lives, Surely they swear to a falsehood.”
And though they say, “As the Lord liveth!” surely they only swear to a falsehood.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
8 Fed horses—they have been early risers, They each neigh to the wife of his neighbor.
As robust horses they rose by times in the morning: every one neighed after the wife of his neighbor.
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 for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: and shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?
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 ye her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: remove her young shoots; 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 dealt very treacherously against me, saith 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 said, “He existeth not; nor will evil come over us; and the sword and famine shall we not see.
13 And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them, Thus it is done to them.”
And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them:” thus shall it be done unto 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 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.
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.
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.
16 Its quiver [is] as an open tomb, All of them—mighty ones.
Their quiver is as an open sepulchre: 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 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.
18 And even in those days,” A declaration of YHWH, “I do not make you a completion.
Nevertheless even in those days, saith the Lord, will I not make a full end of 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 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.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, And sound it in Judah, saying,
Announce this in the house of Jacob, and publish it 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.
Do now hear this, O sottish people, who have no heart; who have eyes, and see not; who 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 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.
23 And this people has an apostatizing and rebelling heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.
But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart: they have departed [from the right] and have gone their way.
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 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.
25 Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have kept the good from you.
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden what is good 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 there are found among my people wicked men: they lie in wait, as he that layeth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich.
As a coop is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore are they become great, and grown 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.
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.
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 for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: or shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?
30 An astonishing and horrible thing has been in the land:
An astonishing and horrible thing is committed in 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 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?
