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 back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.

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

Though they say, 'As Jehovah lives;' 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, do your eyes not 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.

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.

Then I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the law 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 to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God." But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and 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 kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is 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.

"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.

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

They were as fed horses roaming at large: everyone neighed after his neighbor'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?

Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" says Jehovah; "and shouldn't 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 on her walls, and destroy; but do not make a full end. Take away her branches; 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," says 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 said, "It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither 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.

The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to 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 says Jehovah, the God of hosts, "Because you speak this word, look, I will make my words in your 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.

Look, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel," says Jehovah. "It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, neither understand what they say.

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

Their quiver is an open tomb, 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.

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

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

"But even in those days," says 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.

It will happen, when you say, 'Why has Jehovah our God done all these things to us?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Jehovah, Just like you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall 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, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and do not see; who have ears, and do not hear:

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.

Do you not fear me?' says Jehovah '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? And though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it.'

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

"But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and 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.'

Neither do they say in their heart, 'Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the 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 withheld good from you.

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 watch, as fowlers lie in wait. 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 is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.

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 have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they do not judge the right of the needy.

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 punish for these things?" says 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 astonishing and horrible thing has happened 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 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?