Jeremiah 5

1 Go to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, And see, I pray you, and know, And seek in her broad places, if ye find a man, If there be one doing judgment, seeking stedfastness — Then am I propitious to her.

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broadways thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be [any] that doeth justice, that seeketh fidelity; and I will pardon it.

2 And if they say, 'Jehovah liveth,' Surely to a falsehood they swear.

And if they say, [As] Jehovah liveth! surely they swear falsely.

3 Jehovah, Thine eyes, are they not on stedfastness? Thou hast smitten them, and they have not grieved, Thou hast consumed them, They have refused to receive instruction, They made their faces harder than a rock, They have refused to turn back.

Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

4 And I — I said, 'Surely these [are] poor, They have been foolish, For they have not known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.

And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.

5 I get me to the great, and I speak with them, For they have known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.' Surely they together have broken the yoke, They have drawn away the bands.

I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.

6 Therefore smitten them hath a lion out of the forest, A wolf of the deserts doth spoil them, A leopard is watching over their cities, Every one who is going out of them is torn, For many have been their transgressions, Mighty have been their backslidings.

Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall waste them; the leopard lurketh against their cities, every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces: for their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased.

7 For this I am not propitious to thee, Thy sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by that which is not god, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together.

Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house.

8 Fed horses — they have been early risers, Each to the wife of his neighbour they neigh.

[As] well fed horses, they roam about, every one neigheth after his neighbour's wife.

9 For these do I not lay a charge? An affirmation of Jehovah, And on a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?

Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up on her walls, and destroy, And a completion make not, Turn aside her branches, for they [are] not Jehovah's,

Go up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end; take away her battlements, for they are not Jehovah's.

11 For dealt treacherously against Me have the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah.

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

12 They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, '[It is] not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.

They have denied Jehovah, and say, He is not; and evil shall not come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine;

13 And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them,' — thus it is done by them.

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

14 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, Because of your speaking this word, Lo, I am making My words in thy mouth become fire, And this people wood, and it hath devoured them.

Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the 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.

15 Lo, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah, A nation — strong it [is], a nation — from of old it [is], A nation — thou knowest not its tongue, Nor understandest what it speaketh.

Behold, I bring a nation upon you from afar, house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest thou what they say.

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

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

17 And it hath consumed thy harvest and thy bread, They consume thy sons, and thy daughters, It consumeth thy flock, and thy herd, It consumeth thy vine, and thy fig-tree, It maketh poor thy fenced cities, In which thou art trusting — by the sword.

And they shall eat up thy harvest and thy bread, they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters, they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds, they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall destroy with the sword thy strong cities, wherein thou trustedst.

18 And even in those days, an affirmation of Jehovah, I do not make you a completion.

Nevertheless in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it hath come to pass, when ye say, 'For what hath Jehovah our God done to us all these?' That thou hast said unto them, 'As ye have forsaken Me, And serve the gods of a foreigner in your land, So do ye serve strangers in a land not yours.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto 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 Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, And sound ye it in Judah, saying,

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

21 Hear ye, I pray you, this, O people, foolish and without heart, Eyes they have, and they see not, Ears they have, and they hear not.

Hear now this, O foolish and heartless people, who have eyes and see not; who have ears, and hear not.

22 Me do ye not fear, an affirmation of Jehovah? From My presence are ye not pained? Who hath made sand the border of the sea, A limit age-during, and it passeth not over it, They shake themselves, and they are not able, Yea, sounded have its billows, and they pass not over.

Will ye not fear me? saith Jehovah. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have set the sand a bound for the sea by a perpetual decree, and it shall not pass it? and its waves toss themselves, but they do not prevail; and they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

23 And this people hath an apostate and rebellious heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.

But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart; they have turned aside and are gone.

24 And they have not said in their heart, 'Let us fear, we pray you, Jehovah our God, who is giving rain, The sprinkling and the gathered, in its season, The appointed weeks of harvest He keepeth for us.'

And they say not in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the early and the latter, in its season; who preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of harvest.

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

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

26 For the wicked have been found among My people. It looketh about the covering of snares, They have set up a trap — men they capture.

For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as fowlers stoop down; they set a trap, they catch men.

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

As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and have enriched themselves.

28 They have been fat, they have shone, Yea, they have overpassed the acts of the evil, Judgment they have not judged, The judgment of the fatherless — and they prosper, And the judgment of the needy they have not judged.

They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge.

29 For these do not I inspect, an affirmation of Jehovah, On a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?

Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 An astonishing and horrible thing hath been in the land.

An appalling and horrible thing is committed in the land:

31 The prophets have prophesied falsely, And the priests bear rule by their means, And My people have loved [it] so, And what do they at its latter end?

the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their means; and my people love [to have it] so. But what will ye do in the end thereof?