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.
Go everywhere through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and pay attention! Search all through her city squares to see if you can find even just one person who does what's right, anyone who is faithful, and I'll forgive the city.
2 Even though they say By the life of Yahweh, Yet in fact falsely, do they swear.
They may make promises in my name, but they're not sincere.
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.
Lord, aren't you always looking for faithfulness? You beat them, but they didn't care. You just about destroyed them, but they refused to accept your discipline. They were stubborn, hard as rock, and they wouldn't repent.
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 to myself, “These people are only the poor—they're just fools who don't know any better. They certainly don't know what the Lord wants, God's right way of living.
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.
Let me go to and talk to the ones in charge. They would surely know what the Lord wants, God's right way of living.” But they had all broken off the yoke as well, and ripped off the chains.
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.
As a result a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will rip them apart. A leopard will lie in wait for them near their towns, ready to tear to pieces anyone who goes outside. For they keep on rebelling, and turn away from me so often.
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:
Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned me and believe in gods that are not gods. I gave them everything they need, yet they went and committed adultery, gathering together at prostitutes' houses.
8 Lusty, well-fed horses, had they become, Every man unto his neighbour’s wife, would neigh!
They're like virile stallions wanting sex, each of them neighing with lust after his neighbor'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?
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
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 through her vineyards and damage them, but don't destroy them completely. Rip off her branches, because they don't belong to the Lord.
11 For very treacherously, have the house of Israel and the house of Judah dealt with me, Declareth Yahweh.
The people of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me, declares the Lord.
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;
They have lied about the Lord, saying, “He won't do anything. Nothing bad will happen to us. We won't have war 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!
The prophets are just like the wind. The Lord doesn't speak through them. What they predict can happen to 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.
So this is the reply from the Lord God Almighty: Because of what you've said, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth and you people like the wood it burns up.
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:
Look! I am bringing a nation from far away to attack you, people of Israel, declares the Lord. It's a powerful nation that has existed for a long time; it's a nation whose language you don't know, and when they speak you can't understand them.
16 Its quiver, is like an open sepulchre, —They all, are heroes:
Their arrows bring death; they are all strong warriors.
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.
They will consume your harvest and your food; they will destroy your sons and your daughters; they will eat your flocks and your herds; they will feed on your vines and your fig trees. They will attack and will destroy the fortified towns that you have so much confidence in.
18 Yet, even in those days, Declareth Yahweh, Will I not make of you, a full end.
But even at that time I won't completely destroy you, declares the Lord.
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.
When people ask you Jeremiah, “Why did the Lord our God do all these things to us?” you are to tell them, “In the same way you have abandoned me and served foreign gods here in your country, so you will serve foreigners in a country that isn't your own.”
20 Tell ye this, throughout the house of Jacob, —And let it be heard throughout Judah saying:
Announce this to the people of Jacob and Judah:
21 Hear this, I pray you ye people—foolish and without heart, —Eyes, have they, and see not, Ears, have they, and hear not!
Listen to this, you foolish, stupid people, who have eyes but don't see, who have ears but don't hear.
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,
Aren't you afraid of what I can do? declares the Lord. Don't you think you should tremble in my presence? I am the one who set up the shore as the sea's boundary, an everlasting limit that it can't cross. The waves crash against it, but they can't defeat it. They roar, but they can't cross the barrier.
23 Yet, this people hath an obstinate and rebellious heart, —They have turned aside, and gone their way;
But you people have a stubborn and rebellious attitude. You have left me and gone your own way.
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.
You didn't think to say, “We should appreciate the Lord our God, who sends the autumn and spring rains at the right time, who makes sure we can have a harvest every year.”
25 Your iniquities, have thrust away these things, Yea, your sins, have withholden that which is good from you.
Your wrong actions have taken these benefits from you; your sins have deprived you of my blessings.
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 there are wicked men among my people. They're like bird-trappers, secretly watching and waiting to catch people in their snare.
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:
Their homes are full of their ill-gotten gains, like cages full of birds. That's why they've become powerful and 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.
They've grown fat and smooth, and have become experts in evil. They deny justice to orphans, and they don't defend the rights of those in need.
29 Upon these things, shall I not bring punishment? Demandeth Yahweh. Or, on a nation such as this, shall not my soul avenge herself?
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
30 An astounding and horrible thing, hath been brought to pass in the land:
Something horrible, something terrible has happened here in this country.
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 give false prophecies; the priests rule as they please. My people love it like this, but what will you do when it all falls apart?
