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.
Run ye through the streets of Jerusalem, [[saith Jehovah, ]] And see now, and know, and seek in her broad places If ye can find a single man, If there be one that doeth justice, That seeketh uprightness, And I will forgive her.
2 Although they say, 'As Yahweh lives,' yet they are swearing falsely.”
Yea, though they say, “As Jehovah liveth!” Yet do they swear falsely.
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.
Are not thine eyes upon the truth, O Jehovah! Thou hast smitten them, but they have not grieved; Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; They have made their faces harder than a rock; They have refused to return.
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.
Then I said, These are only the poor; They are foolish, because they know not the way of Jehovah, The law 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 will get me to the great ones, And I will speak to them; For they know the way of Jehovah, The law of their God. But these also have together broken the yoke; They have burst 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 the lion out of the forest shall slay them, And the evening wolf shall destroy them. The leopard shall keep watch upon their cities; Every one that goeth out from them shall be torn in pieces; Because their transgressions are multiplied, Their rebellions are increased.
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.
How can I pardon thee for this? [[saith Jehovah; ]] Thy children have forsaken me, And sworn by them that are no gods. I have fed them to the full, yet do they commit adultery, And assemble themselves in crowds in the house of the harlot.
8 They were horses in heat. They roamed about wanting to mate. Each man neighed to his neighbor's wife.
They are as well-fed horses in the morning; Every one neigheth after his neighbor's wife.
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?
Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
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 ye up upon her walls and destroy! Yet make ye not a full end! Take ye away her branches, For they belong not to Jehovah!
11 For the houses of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me—this is Yahweh's declaration.
For they have proved false to me, The house of Israel and the house of Judah, saith Jehovah.
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 denied Jehovah, And have said, “It is not He; Evil shall not come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind, the word is not in them, so let what they say be done to them.”
The prophets are but wind, And the word is not in them; Thus may it happen 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 saith Jehovah, God of hosts: Because ye say such things, Behold, I will make thy words in thy mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour 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 will bring against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah; It is a mighty nation; It is an ancient nation; A nation whose language thou dost not know, And whose words thou canst not understand.
16 Its quiver is like an open tomb. They are all soldiers.
Their quiver is like an open sepulchre; They are all mighty men.
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.
They shall consume thy harvest and thy bread; They shall consume thy sons and thy daughters; They shalt consume thy sheep and thy oxen; They shall consume thy vine and thy fig-tree; They shall destroy with the sword thy fortified cities, In which thou placest thy trust.
18 But even in those days—this is Yahweh's declaration—I do not intend to destroy you completely.
Yet even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.
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 when they shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God brought all these things upon us? Then shalt thou say to them, “As ye have forsaken me, And served strange gods in your land, So shall ye 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 ye this in the house of Jacob, And publish 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.
Hear ye now this, O foolish people and without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, Who have ears and hear not!
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.
Will ye not fear me, saith Jehovah? Will ye not tremble before me, Who appointed the sand a bound to the sea, A perpetual barrier, which it cannot pass? Though the waves thereof toss themselves, Yet do they not prevail, Though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn heart. It turns away in rebellion and goes away.
But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; They revolt continually.
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.”
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, Who giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, And secureth to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Your iniquities kept these things from happening. Your sins have stopped good from coming to you.
Your iniquities have turned away these things, And your sins have withholden that which is 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 among my people are found wicked men, Who lie on the watch like fowlers; They set a trap that they may catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit. So they grow large and become rich.
As a cage is full of birds, So are their houses full of fraud. Therefore are they grown great and 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 become fat and shine; Yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked; They maintain no cause, No cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; And the right of the needy do they not defend.
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?
Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 Atrocities and horrors have occurred in the land.
Astonishing and horrible is that which is done in this 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 prophesy falsely, And the priests rule under their guidance, And my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end of it?
