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 through the streets of Jerusalem, [[saith Jehovah, ]] And see now, and know, and seek in her broad places If ye can find a single man, If there be one that doeth justice, That seeketh uprightness, And I will forgive her.

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

Yea, though they say, “As Jehovah liveth!” Yet do 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.

Are not thine eyes upon the truth, O Jehovah! Thou hast smitten 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.

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, These are only the poor; They are foolish, because they know not the way of Jehovah, 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 get me to the great ones, And I will speak to them; For they know the way of Jehovah, The law of their God. But these also have together broken the yoke; They have burst the bands.

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 the lion out of the forest shall slay them, And the evening wolf shall destroy them. The leopard shall keep watch upon their cities; Every one that goeth out from them shall be torn in pieces; Because their transgressions are multiplied, Their rebellions 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.

How can I pardon thee for this? [[saith Jehovah; ]] Thy children have forsaken me, And sworn by them that are no gods. I have fed them to the full, yet do they commit adultery, And assemble themselves in crowds in the house of the harlot.

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

They are as well-fed horses in the morning; Every one neigheth 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?

Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not avenge myself 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 ye up upon her walls and destroy! Yet make ye not a full end! Take ye away her branches, For they belong not to Jehovah!

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

For they have proved false to me, The house of Israel and the house of Judah, 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 have said, “It is not He; Evil shall not come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine.

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

The prophets are but wind, And the word is not in them; Thus may it happen 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 saith Jehovah, God of hosts: Because ye say such things, Behold, I will make thy 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 will bring against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah; It is a mighty nation; It is an ancient nation; A nation whose language thou dost not know, And whose words thou canst not understand.

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

Their quiver is like 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.

They shall consume thy harvest and thy bread; They shall consume thy sons and thy daughters; They shalt consume thy sheep and thy oxen; They shall consume thy vine and thy fig-tree; They shall destroy with the sword thy fortified cities, In which thou placest thy trust.

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

Yet even 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 when they shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God brought all these things upon 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 ye 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 ye now this, O foolish people and without understanding, 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 before me, Who appointed the sand a bound to the sea, A perpetual barrier, which it cannot pass? Though the waves thereof toss themselves, Yet do they not prevail, Though 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 revolting and rebellious heart; They revolt continually.

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 say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, Who giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, And secureth 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 withholden that which is 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, Who lie on the watch like fowlers; They set a trap that they may 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 fraud. Therefore are they grown great and 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 become fat and shine; Yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked; They maintain no cause, No cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; And the right of the needy do they not defend.

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, saith Jehovah? Shall I not be avenged on such a nation as this?

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

Astonishing and horrible is that which is done in this 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 under their guidance, And my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end of it?