Jeremiah 5
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her broad places, if ye can find a man, if there is any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
3 O LORD, are not thy eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken 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.
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out from there shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’S.
Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,”
12 They have denied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them.
The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
14 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
17 And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish with the sword thy fortified cities, in which thou didst trust.
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why doeth the LORD our God all these things to us? then shalt thou answer them, As ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not:
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though its waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
23 But this people have a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.
But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season: he reserveth to us the appointed weeks of harvest.
They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you.
Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lie in wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they have become great, and have grown rich.
Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat, they shine: yea, they exceed the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
29 Shall I not punish for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in its end?
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
