ירמיה 5

1 שוטטו בחוצות ירושלם וראו נא ודעו ובקשו ברחובותיה אם תמצאו איש אם יש עשה משפט מבקש אמונה ואסלח לה׃

[Yahweh said to the people of Jerusalem], “Go up and down every street. Search in the marketplaces to find people who do what is fair/right, who try to be faithful to me. [If you find even one person like that], I will forgive [the people of Jerusalem and not destroy] their city.

2 ואם חי יהוה יאמרו לכן לשקר ישבעו׃

But when people there say, ‘I solemnly declare that as surely as Yahweh lives, [I will do what he says],’ they are lying.”

3 יהוה עיניך הלוא לאמונה הכיתה אתם ולא חלו כליתם מאנו קחת מוסר חזקו פניהם מסלע מאנו לשוב׃

Yahweh, you are certainly [RHQ] searching for [people who tell the] truth. You struck/punished your people, but they did not pay any attention. You crushed them, but they ignored what you were telling them to do. They were extremely stubborn [IDM] and refused to return to you.

4 ואני אמרתי אך דלים הם נואלו כי לא ידעו דרך יהוה משפט אלהיהם׃

I thought, “[We cannot expect] these [people to act righteously, because they] are poor; they do not have any sense. They do not know the way Yahweh wants them to conduct their lives; they do not know what God requires them to do.

5 אלכה לי אל הגדלים ואדברה אותם כי המה ידעו דרך יהוה משפט אלהיהם אך המה יחדו שברו על נתקו מוסרות׃

So, I will go and talk to their leaders, because they [surely] know how God wants them to conduct their lives.” But they also have stopped obeying Yahweh [MET], and they will not allow him to lead them.

6 על כן הכם אריה מיער זאב ערבות ישדדם נמר שקד על עריהם כל היוצא מהנה יטרף כי רבו פשעיהם עצמו משבותיהם׃

Because of that, lions will come out of the forests and kill them; wolves from the desert will attack them; leopards that lurk/wait outside their cities will maul anyone who walks outside the cities. [Those things will happen] because the people have sinned very much against God and have turned away from him very frequently.

7 אי לזאת אסלוח לך בניך עזבוני וישבעו בלא אלהים ואשבע אותם וינאפו ובית זונה יתגדדו׃

Yahweh says, “I cannot [RHQ] forgive these people; [even] their children have abandoned me. When they solemnly declare something, they ask their gods [to show that what they say is true]. I gave my people everything that they needed, but they often went to [the shrines of their idols] and committed adultery there.

8 סוסים מיזנים משכים היו איש אל אשת רעהו יצהלו׃

[Just like] [MET] well-fed male horses neigh, wanting sex with female horses, each of the men desires to have sex with his neighbor’s wife.

9 העל אלה לוא אפקד נאם יהוה ואם בגוי אשר כזה לא תתנקם נפשי׃

(Should I not punish them for this [RHQ]?/I will certainly get revenge on this nation for this!) I will certainly get revenge [RHQ] on this nation whose people behave like that!

10 עלו בשרותיה ושחתו וכלה אל תעשו הסירו נטישותיה כי לוא ליהוה המה׃

[I will say to your enemies], ‘The people [of Judah and Israel are like a vineyard]. Go along the rows in their vineyards and get rid of [most of] the people, but do not kill all of them. These people do not belong to me, [so get rid of them], [like a gardener] [MET] lops/cuts off branches from a vine.

11 כי בגוד בגדו בי בית ישראל ובית יהודה נאם יהוה׃

The people of Israel and Judah have turned away from me completely.’

12 כחשו ביהוה ויאמרו לא הוא ולא תבוא עלינו רעה וחרב ורעב לוא נראה׃

They have lied about me and said, ‘He will not punish us! He will not cause us to experience disasters! We will not experience wars or famines!

13 והנביאים יהיו לרוח והדבר אין בהם כה יעשה להם׃

What [God’s] prophets say is nothing but hot air! They do not have messages [from God]! We would like [the disasters that they predict] to happen to them!’”

14 לכן כה אמר יהוה אלהי צבאות יען דברכם את הדבר הזה הנני נתן דברי בפיך לאש והעם הזה עצים ואכלתם׃

So, this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, has said to me: “Because my people are saying those things, I will give you a message to tell them [MTY] that will be [like] [MET] a fire, and [these people will be like] [MET] wood that the fire will burn up.

15 הנני מביא עליכם גוי ממרחק בית ישראל נאם יהוה גוי איתן הוא גוי מעולם הוא גוי לא תדע לשנו ולא תשמע מה ידבר׃

Listen to this, you people of Israel: I will bring [the army of] a distant nation to attack you. It is a very powerful nation that has existed for a long time. They speak a language that you do not know and which you will not be able to understand.

16 אשפתו כקבר פתוח כלם גבורים׃

Their soldiers are all very strong, and the arrows from their quivers [MET] will (send many Israeli men to their graves/cause many Israeli people to die).

17 ואכל קצירך ולחמך יאכלו בניך ובנותיך יאכל צאנך ובקרך יאכל גפנך ותאנתך ירשש ערי מבצריך אשר אתה בוטח בהנה בחרב׃

They will eat the food that you have harvested from your fields, and eat your bread. They will kill your sons and daughters, and they will kill your flocks [of sheep] and herds [of cattle]. They will eat your grapes and your figs. They will [also] destroy your cities that have high walls around them and kill the people with their swords.

18 וגם בימים ההמה נאם יהוה לא אעשה אתכם כלה׃

But even when those things happen, I will not get rid of all of you.

19 והיה כי תאמרו תחת מה עשה יהוה אלהינו לנו את כל אלה ואמרת אליהם כאשר עזבתם אותי ותעבדו אלהי נכר בארצכם כן תעבדו זרים בארץ לא לכם׃

And when the survivors ask, ‘Why is Yahweh our God doing this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘You rejected him and worshiped foreign gods in your [own] land, so [now] you will become slaves of foreigners in a land that is not your land.’”

20 הגידו זאת בבית יעקב והשמיעוה ביהודה לאמר׃

[Yahweh said to me], “Proclaim this to the people of Israel and Judah:

21 שמעו נא זאת עם סכל ואין לב עינים להם ולא יראו אזנים להם ולא ישמעו׃

Listen to this, you people who are foolish and who do not have any sense: You have eyes, but [it is as though] you cannot see; you have ears, but [it is as though] you cannot hear.

22 האותי לא תיראו נאם יהוה אם מפני לא תחילו אשר שמתי חול גבול לים חק עולם ולא יעברנהו ויתגעשו ולא יוכלו והמו גליו ולא יעברנהו׃

Why do you not revere me [RHQ]? You should [RHQ] tremble when you are in my presence! I, Yahweh, am the one who put a barrier along the shores so that the waters of the ocean cannot cross it [and flood the land]. The waves roll and roar, but they cannot go past that barrier.

23 ולעם הזה היה לב סורר ומורה סרו וילכו׃

But you people [are not like the waves that obey me]. You people are very stubborn and rebellious. You have constantly turned away from me.

24 ולא אמרו בלבבם נירא נא את יהוה אלהינו הנתן גשם וירה ומלקוש בעתו שבעות חקות קציר ישמר לנו׃

You do not say to yourselves, ‘We should revere Yahweh our God, the one who sends us rain at the times when we need it, the one who causes the grain to become ripe at the harvest season.’

25 עונותיכם הטו אלה וחטאותיכם מנעו הטוב מכם׃

It is because of the wrong things that you have done, that those good things have not happened; it is because of the sins that you have committed that you have been prevented from receiving those blessings.

26 כי נמצאו בעמי רשעים ישור כשך יקושים הציבו משחית אנשים ילכדו׃

Among my people are wicked people who hide along the roads to ambush/attack people like [SIM] men who hunt birds (put out nets/set traps) to catch them.

27 ככלוב מלא עוף כן בתיהם מלאים מרמה על כן גדלו ויעשירו׃

Like [a hunter has] a cage full of birds [that he has captured], their homes are full of things that they have gotten by deceiving others. So now they are [very] rich and powerful.

28 שמנו עשתו גם עברו דברי רע דין לא דנו דין יתום ויצליחו ומשפט אביונים לא שפטו׃

They are big and fat, and there is no limit to the evil things that they have done. They do not try to defend orphans in the courtrooms, and they do not help poor people to get what they have a right to receive.

29 העל אלה לא אפקד נאם יהוה אם בגוי אשר כזה לא תתנקם נפשי׃

So I will certainly [RHQ] punish them for doing those things. I will certainly [RHQ] (get revenge on their nation/do to their nation what they deserve).

30 שמה ושערורה נהיתה בארץ׃

Very appalling/horrible and terrible [DOU] things are happening in this country:

31 הנביאים נבאו בשקר והכהנים ירדו על ידיהם ועמי אהבו כן ומה תעשו לאחריתה׃

Prophets speak [only] lies and priests rule by their own authority, and you people like that! But when you [start to] experience disasters, what will you do [RHQ]?”