Jeremiah 5
1 "Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
Go quickly through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and get knowledge, and make a search in her wide places if there is a man, if there is one in her who is upright, who keeps faith; and she will have my forgiveness.
2 Though they say, 'As the LORD lives;' surely they swear falsely."
And though they say, By the living Lord; truly their oaths are false.
3 O LORD, do your eyes not look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.
O Lord, do not your eyes see good faith? you have given them punishment, but they were not troubled; you have sent destruction on them, but they did not take your teaching to heart: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they would not come back.
4 Then I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the LORD, nor the law of their God.
Then I said, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God.
5 I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of the LORD, and the law of their God." But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
I will go to the great men and have talk with them; for they have knowledge of the way of the Lord and of the behaviour desired by their God. But as for these, their one purpose is a broken yoke and burst bands.
6 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.
And so a lion from the woods will put them to death, a wolf of the waste land will make them waste, a leopard will keep watch on their towns, and everyone who goes out from them will be food for the beasts; because of the great number of their sins and the increase of their wrongdoing.
7 "How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.
How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women.
8 They were as fed horses roaming at large: everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.
They were full of desire, like horses after a meal of grain: everyone went after his neighbour's wife.
9 Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" says the LORD; "and shouldn't my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this?
10 "Go up on her walls, and destroy; but do not make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not the LORD's.
Go up against her vines and make waste; let the destruction be complete: take away her branches, for they are not the Lord's.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me," says the LORD.
For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have been very false to me, says the Lord.
12 They have denied the LORD, and said, "It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.
They would have nothing to do with the Lord, saying, He will do nothing, and no evil will come to us; we will not see the sword or be short of food:
13 The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them."
And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them; so it will be done to them.
14 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, "Because you speak this word, look, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
For this reason the Lord, the God of armies, has said: Because you have said this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and they will be burned up by it.
15 Look, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, neither understand what they say.
See, I will send you a nation from far away, O people of Israel, says the Lord; a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language is strange to you, so that you may not get the sense of their words.
16 Their quiver is an open tomb, they are all mighty men.
Their arrows give certain death, they are all men of war.
17 They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
They will take all the produce of your fields, which would have been food for your sons and your daughters: they will take your flocks and your herds: they will take all your vines and your fig-trees: and with the sword they will make waste your walled towns in which you put your faith.
18 "But even in those days," says the LORD, "I will not make a full end with you.
But even in those days, says the Lord, I will not let your destruction be complete.
19 It will happen, when you say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, Just like you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'
And it will come about, when you say, Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you will say to them, As you gave me up, making yourselves servants to strange gods in your land, so will you be servants to strange men in a land which is not yours.
20 "Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Say this openly in Jacob and give it out in Judah, saying,
21 'Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and do not see; who have ears, and do not hear:
Give ear now to this, O foolish people without sense; who have eyes but see nothing, and ears without the power of hearing:
22 Do you not fear me?' says the LORD 'Won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? And though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it.'
Have you no fear of me? says the Lord; will you not be shaking with fear before me, who have put the sand as a limit for the sea, by an eternal order, so that it may not go past it? and though it is ever in motion, it is not able to have its way; though the sound of its waves is loud, they are not able to go past it.
23 "But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.
But the heart of this people is uncontrolled and turned away from me; they are broken loose and gone.
24 Neither do they say in their heart, 'Let us now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.'
And they do not say in their hearts, Now let us give worship to our God, who gives the rain, the winter and the spring rain, at the right time; who keeps for us the ordered weeks of the grain-cutting.
25 "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
Through your evil-doing these things have been turned away, and your sins have kept back good from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.
For there are sinners among my people: they keep watch, like men watching for birds; they put a net and take men in it.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.
As the fowl-house is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: for this reason they have become great and have got wealth.
28 They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they do not judge the right of the needy.
They have become fat and strong: they have gone far in works of evil: they give no support to the cause of the child without a father, so that they may do well; they do not see that the poor man gets his rights.
29 "Shall I not punish for these things?" says the LORD. "Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this?
30 "An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.
A thing of wonder and fear has come about in the land;
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?
The prophets give false words and the priests give decisions by their direction; and my people are glad to have it so: and what will you do in the end?
