Jeremiah 5

1 “Rush about through the streets of Jerusalem; search in her city squares, too. Then look and think about this: If you can find a man or anyone who is acting justly and trying to act faithfully, then I will forgive Jerusalem.

“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.

2 Although they say, 'As Yahweh lives,' yet they are swearing falsely.”

And if they say, YHWH lives, Surely they swear to a falsehood.”

3 Yahweh, do your eyes not look for faithfulness? You struck the people, but they do not feel pain. You have completely defeated them, but they still refuse to receive discipline. They make their faces harder than rock, for they refuse to repent.

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.

4 So I said, “Surely these are only poor people. They are foolish, for they do not know Yahweh's ways, nor their God's decrees.

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.

5 I will go to the important people and declare God's messages to them, for they at least know Yahweh's ways, the decrees of their God.” But they all broke their yoke together; they all tore apart the chains that bound them to God.

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.

6 So a lion from a thicket will attack them. A wolf from the Arabah will ruin them. A lurking panther will come against their cities. Anyone who goes outside his city will be torn apart. For their transgressions increase. Their acts of faithlessness are unlimited.

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.

7 Why should I pardon these people? Your sons have abandoned me and have made oaths by what are not gods. I fed them fully, but they committed adultery and walked in great numbers to the houses of prostitutes.

“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.

8 They were horses in heat. They roamed about wanting to mate. Each man neighed to his neighbor's wife.

Fed horses—they have been early risers, They each neigh to the wife of his neighbor.

9 So should I not punish them—this is Yahweh's declaration— and should I not avenge myself on a nation that is like this?

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?

10 Go up onto her vineyards' terraces and destroy. But do not bring complete destruction to them. Trim their vines, since those vines do not come from Yahweh.

Go up on her walls, and destroy, And I do not make a completion, Turn her branches aside, For they [are] not YHWH’s,

11 For the houses of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me—this is Yahweh's declaration.

For the house of Israel has dealt treacherously against Me, And the house of Judah,” A declaration of YHWH.

12 They have spoken falsely about Yahweh and they said, “He will do nothing; no harm will come upon us, and we will not see sword or famine.

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.

13 The prophets will become wind, the word is not in them, so let what they say be done to them.”

And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them, Thus it is done to them.”

14 So Yahweh, the God of hosts says this, “Because you have said this, see, I am about to place my word in your mouth. It will be like a fire, and this people will be like wood! For it will consume them.

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.

15 Behold! I am about to bring a nation against you from far away, house of Israel—this is Yahweh's declaration— it is a lasting nation, an ancient nation! It is a nation whose language you do not know, nor will you understand what they say.

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.

16 Its quiver is like an open tomb. They are all soldiers.

Its quiver [is] as an open tomb, All of them—mighty ones.

17 So your harvest will be consumed, your sons and daughters also, and your food. They will eat your flocks and cattle; they will eat the fruit from your vines and fig trees. They will beat down with a sword your fortified cities that you trusted in.

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.

18 But even in those days—this is Yahweh's declaration—I do not intend to destroy you completely.

And even in those days,” A declaration of YHWH, “I do not make you a completion.

19 When you, Israel and Judah, say, 'Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?' then you, Jeremiah, will say to them, 'Just as you abandoned Yahweh and served foreign gods in your land, so you must also serve strangers in a land that is not your own.'

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.

20 Report this to the house of Jacob and let it be heard in Judah. Say,

Declare this in the house of Jacob, And sound it in Judah, saying,

21 'Hear this, you foolish people who have no understanding; who have eyes but you cannot see, and you have ears but you cannot hear.

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.

22 Do you not fear me—this is Yahweh's declaration—or tremble before my face? I have placed a border of sand against the sea, an ongoing decree that it does not violate— even though the sea rises and falls, still it does not violate it. Even though its waves roar, they do not cross it.

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.

23 But this people has a stubborn heart. It turns away in rebellion and goes away.

And this people has an apostatizing and rebelling heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.

24 For they do not say in their hearts, “Let us fear Yahweh our God, the one who brings the rain —the early rain and the late rains—in their right time, keeping the fixed weeks of the harvest for us.”

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.

25 Your iniquities kept these things from happening. Your sins have stopped good from coming to you.

Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have kept the good from you.

26 For wicked men are found with my people. They watch as someone crouches to capture birds; they set a trap and catch people.

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.

27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit. So they grow large and become rich.

As a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich.

28 They have become fat; they shine with well-being. They crossed over all bounds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause of the people, or the cause of the orphan. They prosper even though they have not given justice to the needy.

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.

29 Should I not punish them for these things—this is Yahweh's declaration— and will I not take vengeance for myself on a nation like this?

Do I not inspect for these,” A declaration of YHWH, “On a nation such as this, Does My soul not avenge itself?

30 Atrocities and horrors have occurred in the land.

An astonishing and horrible thing has been in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy with deceit, and the priests rule with their own power. My people love it this way, but what will happen in the end?'”

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?”