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.
Cumpasse ye the weies of Jerusalem, and loke, and biholde ye, and seke ye in the stretis therof, whether ye fynden a man doynge doom, and sekynge feith; and Y schal be merciful to hem.
2 And if they say, YHWH lives, Surely they swear to a falsehood.”
That if also thei seien, The Lord lyueth, yhe, thei schulen swere this falsli.
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.
Lord, thin iyen biholden feith; thou hast smyte hem, and thei maden not sorewe; thou hast al tobroke hem, and thei forsoken to take chastisyng; thei maden her faces hardere than a stoon, and nolden turne ayen.
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.
Forsothe Y seide, In hap thei ben pore men, and foolis, that knowen not the weie of the Lord, and the doom of her 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.
Therfor Y schal go to the principal men, and Y schal speke to hem; for thei knewen the weie of the Lord, and the doom of her God. And lo! thei han more broke togidere the yok, and han broke boondis.
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.
Therfor a lioun of the wode smoot hem; a wolf at euentid wastide hem, a parde wakynge on the citees of hem. Ech man that goith out of hem, schal be takun; for the trespassyngis of hem ben multiplied, the turnyngis awei of hem ben coumfortid.
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.
On what thing mai Y be merciful to thee? Thi sones han forsake me, and sweren bi hem that ben not goddis. Y fillide hem, and thei diden auowtrie, and in the hous of an hoore thei diden letcherie.
8 Fed horses—they have been early risers, They each neigh to the wife of his neighbor.
Thei ben maad horsis, and stalouns, louyeris to wymmen; ech man neiyede to the wijf of his neiybore.
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?
Whether Y schal not visite on these thingis, seith the Lord, and schal not my soule take veniaunce in siche a folk?
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,
Stye ye on the wallis therof, and distrie ye; but nyle ye make an endyng. Do ye awei the siouns therof, for thei ben not seruauntis of the Lord.
11 For the house of Israel has dealt treacherously against Me, And the house of Judah,” A declaration of YHWH.
For whi the hous of Israel and the hous of Juda hath trespassid bi trespassyng ayens me, seith 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.
thei denyeden the Lord, and seiden, He is not, nether yuel schal come on vs; we schulen not se swerd and hungur.
13 And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them, Thus it is done to them.”
The profetis spaken ayens the wynd, and noon answer was in hem; therfor these thingis schulen come to hem.
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.
The Lord God of oostis seith these thingis, For ye spaken this word, lo! Y yyue my wordis in thi mouth in to fier, and this puple in to trees, and it schal deuoure hem.
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! thou hous of Israel, seith the Lord, Y schal brynge on you a folk fro fer; a strong folk, an eeld folk, `a folk whos langage thou schalt not knowe, nether schalt vndurstonde what it spekith.
16 Its quiver [is] as an open tomb, All of them—mighty ones.
The arowe caas therof is as an opyn sepulcre; alle ben stronge 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 it schal ete thi cornes, and it schal deuoure thi breed, thi sones and thi douytris; it schal ete thi flok, and thi droues, it schal ete also thi vyner, and thi fige tre; and it schal al to-breke thi stronge citees bi swerd, in whiche thou hast trist.
18 And even in those days,” A declaration of YHWH, “I do not make you a completion.
Netheles in tho daies, seith the Lord, Y schal not make you in to endyng.
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.
That if ye seien, Whi hath oure Lord God do alle these thingis to vs? thou schalt seie to hem, As ye forsoken me, and serueden an alien god in youre lond, so ye schulen serue alien goddis in a lond not youre.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, And sound it in Judah, saying,
Telle ye this to the hous of Jacob, and make ye herd in Juda, and seie ye,
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.
Here, thou fonned puple, that hast noon herte; whiche han iyen, and seen not, and eeris, and heren 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.
Therfor schulen not ye drede me, seith the Lord, and schulen not ye make sorewe for my face? Whiche haue set grauel a terme, ether ende, to the see, an euerlastynge comaundement, whiche it schal not passe; and the wawis therof schulen be mouyd, and schulen not haue power; and schulen wexe greet, and schulen not passe it.
23 And this people has an apostatizing and rebelling heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.
Forsothe an herte vnbileueful and terrynge to wraththe is maad to this puple; thei departiden,
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 yeden awei, and thei seiden not in her herte, Drede we oure Lord God, that yiueth to vs reyn tymeful, and lateful in his tyme; that kepith to vs the plente of heruest of the yeer.
25 Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have kept the good from you.
Youre wickidnessis diden awei these thingis, and youre synnes forbediden good fro 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 ther ben foundun in my puple wickid men, settynge tresoun, as fouleres settynge snaris and trappis, to take 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 net, ether a trap, ful of briddis, so the housis of hem ben ful of gile. Therfor thei ben magnefied,
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 maad riche, maad fat with ynne, and maad fat with outforth, and thei passiden worst my wordis; thei demyden not a cause of a widewe, thei dressiden not the cause of a fadirles child, and thei demyden not the doom of pore men.
29 Do I not inspect for these,” A declaration of YHWH, “On a nation such as this, Does My soul not avenge itself?
Whether Y schal not visite on these thingis, seith the Lord, ether schal not my soule take veniaunce on sich a folk?
30 An astonishing and horrible thing has been in the land:
Wondur and merueilouse thingis ben maad in the lond;
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?”
profetis profesieden leesyng, and prestis ioieden with her hondis, and my puple louyde siche thingis. What therfor schal be don in the laste thing therof?
