Jeremiah 5

1 “Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does justly, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her.

Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and notice, and search in its broad places, if ye can find one man, if there be one that executeth justice, that searcheth for truth: and I will pardon it.

2 Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ surely they swear falsely.”

And though they say, “As the Lord liveth!” surely they only swear to a falsehood.

3 O LORD, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have 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, are not thy eyes [directed] to the truth? thou didst strike them, but they felt it not; thou didst make an end of them, [yet] they refused to accept correction: they made their faces harder than a rock, they refused to return.

4 Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the LORD’s way, nor the law of their God.

Yet I myself thought, Oh these are but poor; they are foolish; for they knew not the way of the Lord, the ordinance of their God.

5 I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of the LORD, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

I had better go unto the great men, and let me speak with them; for these surely know the way of the Lord, the ordinance of their God; but these altogether have broken the yoke, burst the bands.

6 Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has increased.

Therefore slayeth them the lion out of the forest, the wolf of the deserts wasteth them, the leopard lieth in wait against their cities: every one that cometh out thence shall be torn in pieces; because many are their transgressions, very numerous are their backslidings.

7 “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.

How shall I for this pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by those that are not gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's house.

8 They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

As robust horses they rose by times in the morning: every one neighed after the wife of his neighbor.

9 Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Shall I not for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: and shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?

10 “Go up on her walls, and destroy, but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not the LORD’s.

Scale ye her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: remove her young shoots; for they are not the Lord's.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says the LORD.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord.

12 They have denied the LORD, and said, “It is not he. Evil won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine.

They have denied the Lord, and said, “He existeth not; nor will evil come over us; and the sword and famine shall we not see.

13 The prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them.”

And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them:” thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Therefore the LORD, the God of Hosts says, “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.

Therefore thus hath said the Lord the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth to be a fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don’t know and don’t understand what they say.

Lo, I will bring over you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is a most ancient nation, a nation whose language thou wilt not know, and thou wilt not understand what they speak.

16 Their quiver is an open tomb. They are all mighty men.

Their quiver is as an open sepulchre: they are all mighty men.

17 They will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities in which you trust with the sword.

And they shall consume thy harvest, and thy bread; they shall consume thy sons and thy daughters; they shall consume thy flocks and thy herds; they shall consume thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall depopulate thy fortified cities, those wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

18 “But even in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.

Nevertheless even in those days, saith the Lord, will I not make a full end of you.

19 It will happen when you say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

And it shall come to pass, when ye will say, For what reason hath the Lord our God done all these things unto us? that thou shalt say unto them, In the same manner 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 “Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

Announce this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 ‘Hear this now, foolish people without understanding, who have eyes, and don’t see, who have ears, and don’t hear:

Do now hear this, O sottish people, who have no heart; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not;

22 Don’t you fear me?’ says the LORD; ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? Though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail. Though they roar, they still can’t pass over it.’

Will ye not fear me? saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand as a bound for the sea by an everlasting law, which it can never pass over? and though the waves thereof be upheaved, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

23 “But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.

But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart: they have departed [from the right] and have gone their way.

24 They don’t say in their heart, ‘Let’s now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’

And they have not said in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, the early and the latter rain, in its season: the appointed weeks of the harvest doth he ever preserve for us.

25 “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.

Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden what is good from you.

26 For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.

For there are found among my people wicked men: they lie in wait, as he that layeth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.

As a coop is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore are they become great, and grown rich.

28 They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy.

They are grown fat, they are stout; yea, they surpass even the deeds of the wicked: they pronounce no [just] sentence, the sentence of the fatherless, that they might prosper; and the cause of the needy do they not judge.

29 “Shouldn’t I punish for these things?” says the LORD. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

shall I not for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: or shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?

30 “An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.

An astonishing and horrible thing is committed in the land;

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; but what will ye do in the end thereof?