Jeremiah 5
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And see I pray you and know and seek out in the broad places thereof, Whether ye can find, a man, Whether there is one Doing justice Demanding fidelity, —That I may pardon 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 judgement, and seeks faithfulness; and I will pardon them, says the Lord.
2 Even though they say By the life of Yahweh, Yet in fact falsely, do they swear.
The Lord lives, they say; do they not therefore swear falsely?
3 O Yahweh! thine own eyes, are they not directed to fidelity? Thou hast smitten them Yet have they not grieved, Thou hast consumed them—They have refused to receive correction, —They have made their faces bolder than a cliff, They have refused to return.
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, —Only, poor people, are they, —They act foolishly, For they know not the way of Yahweh, the justice 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 judgement of God.
5 I will betake me unto the great men, and will speak, with them! For, they, know the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God! Yea but, they, with one accord have broken the yoke, torn off 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 judgement of God: but, behold, with one consent they have broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds.
6 For this cause, hath the lion out of the forest smitten them, The wolf of the waste plains, preyeth upon them, The leopard, is keeping watch over their cities, Every one that goeth out from thence, is torn in pieces, —For they have multiplied their transgressions, Numerous are their apostasies.
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 How, for this, can I pardon thee? Thine own sons, have forsaken me, And have sworn by No-gods, —When I had fed them to the full, Then committed they adultery, And the house of the unchaste woman, they used to throng:
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 Lusty, well-fed horses, had they become, Every man unto his neighbour’s wife, would neigh!
They became as wanton horses: they neighed each one after his neighbour's wife.
9 For these things, shall I not punish? Demandeth Yahweh: Yea on a nation such as this, must not my soul avenge herself?
Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this.
10 Scale ye her walls and destroy, But a full end, do not make, —Remove her tendrils, For not to Yahweh, do, they, belong!
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 very treacherously, have the house of Israel and the house of Judah dealt with me, Declareth Yahweh.
For the house of Israel have indeed dealt treacherously against me, says the Lord: the house of Juda also
12 They have acted deceptively against Yahweh, And have said, Not He! Neither shall there come upon us, calamity, Nor sword nor famine, shall we see;
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 But the prophets, shall prove to be wind, And there is no one speaking in them, —Thus, shall it be done to themselves!
Our prophets became wind, and the word of the Lord was not in them.
14 Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, Because ye have spoken this word, —Behold me! making my words in thy mouth to be fire, And, this people, —wood, So shall it devour 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 me! bringing upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh, —A nation invincible, it is, A nation from age-past times, hath it been, A nation whose tongue thou shalt not know, Neither shalt thou understand what it speaketh:
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 like an open sepulchre, —They all, are heroes:
[They are] all mighty men:
17 Then shall it eat thy harvest and thy bread which thy sons and thy daughters should eat, —It shall eat thy flock and thy herd, It shall eat thy vine and thy fig-tree, —It shall destroy thy defenced cities wherein thou, art trusting, with 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 Yet, even in those days, Declareth Yahweh, Will I not make of you, a full end.
And it shall come to pass in those days, says the Lord your God, that I will not utterly destroy you.
19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, For what cause hath Yahweh our God done to us all these things? Then shalt thou say unto them, —As ye forsook me, and served the gods of the foreigner in your own land, So, shall ye serve aliens in a land not your own.
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 Tell ye this, throughout the house of Jacob, —And let it be heard throughout Judah saying:
Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Juda.
21 Hear this, I pray you ye people—foolish and without heart, —Eyes, have they, and see not, Ears, have they, and hear not!
Hear you now these things, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes, and see not; and have ears, and hear not:
22 Even for me, will ye have no reverence? Enquireth Yahweh, And because of me, will ye not be pained? In that though I placed the sand as a bound to the sea, A decree age-abiding, and it should not pass beyond it, —When they would toss themselves Then should they not prevail, When the waves thereof would roar Then should they not pass beyond it,
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 Yet, this people hath an obstinate and rebellious heart, —They have turned aside, and gone their way;
But this people has a disobedient and rebellious heart; and they have turned aside and gone back:
24 Neither have they said in their heart, —Let us we pray you, revere Yahweh our God, Who giveth rain, even the early and the latter, in its season, —The appointed weeks of harvest, he reserveth 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 fulfilment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved [it] for us.
25 Your iniquities, have thrust away these things, Yea, your sins, have withholden that which is good from you.
Your transgressions have turned away these things, and your sins have removed good things from you.
26 For there have been found among my people lawless men, —One lieth in wait, as with the stooping of fowlers, They have set a trap, they capture men:
For amongst my people were found ungodly men; and they have set snares to destroy men, and have caught [them].
27 As, a cage, is full of birds, So, are, their houses, full of unrighteous gain, —For this cause, have they become great and waxen 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 waxed fat, they shine Yea they have overpassed the records of wickedness. The right, have they not determined, the right of the fatherless that they might prosper, —Yea justice to the helpless, have they not decreed.
and they have transgressed [the rule of] judgement; they have not judged the cause of the orphan, nor have they judged the cause of the widow.
29 Upon these things, shall I not bring punishment? Demandeth Yahweh. Or, on a nation such as this, shall not my soul avenge herself?
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 astounding and horrible thing, hath been brought to pass in the land:
Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;
31 The prophets, have prophesied, falsely, And the priests tread down by their means, And, my people, love it, so, —What then can ye do as to her 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.
