Ἱερεμίας 5
1 περιδράμετε ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς Ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἴδετε καὶ γνῶτε καὶ ζητήσατε ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις αὐτῆς ἐὰν εὕρητε ἄνδρα εἰ ἔστιν ποιῶν κρίμα καὶ ζητῶν πίστιν καὶ ἵλεως ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς λέγει κύριος
“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.
2 ζῇ κύριος λέγουσιν διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπὶ ψεύδεσιν ὀμνύουσιν
Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ surely they swear falsely.”
3 κύριε οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν ἐμαστίγωσας αὐτούς καὶ οὐκ ἐπόνεσαν συνετέλεσας αὐτούς καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν δέξασθαι παιδείαν ἐστερέωσαν τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ πέτραν καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν ἐπιστραφῆναι
O Yahweh, 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.
4 καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπα ἴσως πτωχοί εἰσιν διότι οὐκ ἐδυνάσθησαν ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὁδὸν κυρίου καὶ κρίσιν θεοῦ
Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know Yahweh’s way, nor the law of their God.
5 πορεύσομαι πρὸς τοὺς ἁδροὺς καὶ λαλήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐπέγνωσαν ὁδὸν κυρίου καὶ κρίσιν θεοῦ καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁμοθυμαδὸν συνέτριψαν ζυγόν διέρρηξαν δεσμούς
I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
6 διὰ τοῦτο ἔπαισεν αὐτοὺς λέων ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ καὶ λύκος ἕως τῶν οἰκιῶν ὠλέθρευσεν αὐτούς καὶ πάρδαλις ἐγρηγόρησεν ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν πάντες οἱ ἐκπορευόμενοι ἀπ’ αὐτῶν θηρευθήσονται ὅτι ἐπλήθυναν ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν ἴσχυσαν ἐν ταῖς ἀποστροφαῖς αὐτῶν
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.
7 ποίᾳ τούτων ἵλεως γένωμαί σοι οἱ υἱοί σου ἐγκατέλιπόν με καὶ ὤμνυον ἐν τοῖς οὐκ οὖσιν θεοῖς καὶ ἐχόρτασα αὐτούς καὶ ἐμοιχῶντο καὶ ἐν οἴκοις πορνῶν κατέλυον
“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 ἵπποι θηλυμανεῖς ἐγενήθησαν ἕκαστος ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐχρεμέτιζον
They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9 μὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ ἐπισκέψομαι λέγει κύριος ἢ ἐν ἔθνει τοιούτῳ οὐκ ἐκδικήσει ἡ ψυχή μου
Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 ἀνάβητε ἐπὶ τοὺς προμαχῶνας αὐτῆς καὶ κατασκάψατε συντέλειαν δὲ μὴ ποιήσητε ὑπολίπεσθε τὰ ὑποστηρίγματα αὐτῆς ὅτι τοῦ κυρίου εἰσίν
“Go up on her walls, and destroy, but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Yahweh’s.
11 ὅτι ἀθετῶν ἠθέτησεν εἰς ἐμέ λέγει κύριος οἶκος Ισραηλ καὶ οἶκος Ιουδα
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says Yahweh.
12 ἐψεύσαντο τῷ κυρίῳ ἑαυτῶν καὶ εἶπαν οὐκ ἔστιν ταῦτα οὐχ ἥξει ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς κακά καὶ μάχαιραν καὶ λιμὸν οὐκ ὀψόμεθα
They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he. Evil won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine.
13 οἱ προφῆται ἡμῶν ἦσαν εἰς ἄνεμον καὶ λόγος κυρίου οὐχ ὑπῆρχεν ἐν αὐτοῖς οὕτως ἔσται αὐτοῖς
The prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them.”
14 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἀνθ’ ὧν ἐλαλήσατε τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δέδωκα τοὺς λόγους μου εἰς τὸ στόμα σου πῦρ καὶ τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον ξύλα καὶ καταφάγεται αὐτούς
Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies 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.
15 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἔθνος πόρρωθεν οἶκος Ισραηλ λέγει κύριος ἔθνος οὗ οὐκ ἀκούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς τῆς γλώσσης αὐτοῦ
Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “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.
16 πάντες ἰσχυροὶ
Their quiver is an open tomb. They are all mighty men.
17 καὶ κατέδονται τὸν θερισμὸν ὑμῶν καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους ὑμῶν καὶ κατέδονται τοὺς υἱοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν καὶ κατέδονται τὰ πρόβατα ὑμῶν καὶ τοὺς μόσχους ὑμῶν καὶ κατέδονται τοὺς ἀμπελῶνας ὑμῶν καὶ τοὺς συκῶνας ὑμῶν καὶ τοὺς ἐλαιῶνας ὑμῶν καὶ ἀλοήσουσιν τὰς πόλεις τὰς ὀχυρὰς ὑμῶν ἐφ’ αἷς ὑμεῖς πεποίθατε ἐπ’ αὐταῖς ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ
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.
18 καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός σου οὐ μὴ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς εἰς συντέλειαν
“But even in those days,” says Yahweh, “I will not make a full end of you.
19 καὶ ἔσται ὅταν εἴπητε τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐποίησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ἡμῖν ἅπαντα ταῦτα καὶ ἐρεῖς αὐτοῖς ἀνθ’ ὧν ἐδουλεύσατε θεοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐν τῇ γῇ ὑμῶν οὕτως δουλεύσετε ἀλλοτρίοις ἐν γῇ οὐχ ὑμῶν
It will happen when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh 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.’
20 ἀναγγείλατε ταῦτα εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ιακωβ καὶ ἀκουσθήτω ἐν τῷ Ιουδα
“Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 ἀκούσατε δὴ ταῦτα λαὸς μωρὸς καὶ ἀκάρδιος ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐ βλέπουσιν ὦτα αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἀκούουσιν
‘Hear this now, foolish people without understanding, who have eyes, and don’t see, who have ears, and don’t hear:
22 μὴ ἐμὲ οὐ φοβηθήσεσθε λέγει κύριος ἢ ἀπὸ προσώπου μου οὐκ εὐλαβηθήσεσθε τὸν τάξαντα ἄμμον ὅριον τῇ θαλάσσῃ πρόσταγμα αἰώνιον καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται αὐτό καὶ ταραχθήσεται καὶ οὐ δυνήσεται καὶ ἠχήσουσιν τὰ κύματα αὐτῆς καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται αὐτό
Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh; ‘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.’
23 τῷ δὲ λαῷ τούτῳ ἐγενήθη καρδία ἀνήκοος καὶ ἀπειθής καὶ ἐξέκλιναν καὶ ἀπήλθοσαν
“But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.
24 καὶ οὐκ εἶπον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν φοβηθῶμεν δὴ κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν τὸν διδόντα ἡμῖν ὑετὸν πρόιμον καὶ ὄψιμον κατὰ καιρὸν πληρώσεως προστάγματος θερισμοῦ καὶ ἐφύλαξεν ἡμῖν
They don’t say in their heart, ‘Let’s now fear Yahweh 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 αἱ ἀνομίαι ὑμῶν ἐξέκλιναν ταῦτα καὶ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν ἀπέστησαν τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἀφ’ ὑμῶν
“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
26 ὅτι εὑρέθησαν ἐν τῷ λαῷ μου ἀσεβεῖς καὶ παγίδας ἔστησαν διαφθεῖραι ἄνδρας καὶ συνελαμβάνοσαν
For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.
27 ὡς παγὶς ἐφεσταμένη πλήρης πετεινῶν οὕτως οἱ οἶκοι αὐτῶν πλήρεις δόλου διὰ τοῦτο ἐμεγαλύνθησαν καὶ ἐπλούτησαν
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.
28 καὶ παρέβησαν κρίσιν οὐκ ἔκριναν κρίσιν ὀρφανοῦ καὶ κρίσιν χήρας οὐκ ἐκρίνοσαν
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.
29 μὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ ἐπισκέψομαι λέγει κύριος ἢ ἐν ἔθνει τῷ τοιούτῳ οὐκ ἐκδικήσει ἡ ψυχή μου
“Shouldn’t I punish for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 ἔκστασις καὶ φρικτὰ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
“An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.
31 οἱ προφῆται προφητεύουσιν ἄδικα καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς ἐπεκρότησαν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ λαός μου ἠγάπησεν οὕτως καὶ τί ποιήσετε εἰς τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα
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?
