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.
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.
2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Even though they say By the life of Yahweh, Yet in fact falsely, do they swear.
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 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.
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.
And, I, said, —Only, poor people, are they, —They act foolishly, For they know not the way of Yahweh, 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
Lusty, well-fed horses, had they become, Every man unto his neighbour’s wife, would neigh!
9 Shall I not punish for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
For these things, shall I not punish? Demandeth Yahweh: Yea on a nation such as this, must not my soul avenge herself?
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.
Scale ye her walls and destroy, But a full end, do not make, —Remove her tendrils, For not to Yahweh, do, they, belong!
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
For very treacherously, have the house of Israel and the house of Judah dealt with me, Declareth Yahweh.
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 acted deceptively against Yahweh, And have said, Not He! Neither shall there come upon us, calamity, Nor sword nor famine, shall we see;
13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them.
But the prophets, shall prove to be wind, And there is no one speaking in them, —Thus, shall it be done to themselves!
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, 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.
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 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:
16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
Its quiver, is like an open sepulchre, —They all, are heroes:
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.
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.
18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
Yet, even in those days, Declareth Yahweh, Will I not make of you, a full end.
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 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.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
Tell ye this, throughout the house of Jacob, —And let it be heard throughout Judah saying:
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not:
Hear this, I pray you ye people—foolish and without heart, —Eyes, have they, and see not, Ears, have they, and hear not!
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?
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,
23 But this people have a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.
Yet, this people hath an obstinate and rebellious heart, —They have turned aside, and gone their way;
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.
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.
25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you.
Your iniquities, have thrust away these things, Yea, your sins, have withholden that which is good from you.
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 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:
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they have become great, and have grown rich.
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:
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 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.
29 Shall I not punish for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Upon these things, shall I not bring punishment? Demandeth Yahweh. Or, on a nation such as this, shall not my soul avenge herself?
30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
An astounding and horrible thing, hath been brought to pass 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, 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?
