Jeremiah 5

1 Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and notice, and search in its broad places, if ye can find one man, if there be one that executeth justice, that searcheth for truth: and I will pardon it.

Run you about in the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and seek in her broad places, if you can find [one], if there is any one that does judgment, and seeks faithfulness; and I will pardon them, says the Lord.

2 And though they say, “As the Lord liveth!” surely they only swear to a falsehood.

The Lord lives, they say; do they not therefore swear falsely?

3 O Lord, are not thy eyes [directed] to the truth? thou didst strike them, but they felt it not; thou didst make an end of them, [yet] they refused to accept correction: they made their faces harder than a rock, they refused to return.

O Lord, your eyes are upon faithfulness: you have scourged them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them; but they would not receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; and they would not return.

4 Yet I myself thought, Oh these are but poor; they are foolish; for they knew not the way of the Lord, the ordinance of their God.

Then I said, It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they know not the way of the Lord, or the judgment of God.

5 I had better go unto the great men, and let me speak with them; for these surely know the way of the Lord, the ordinance of their God; but these altogether have broken the yoke, burst the bands.

I will go to the rich men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of God: but, behold, with one consent they have broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds.

6 Therefore slayeth them the lion out of the forest, the wolf of the deserts wasteth them, the leopard lieth in wait against their cities: every one that cometh out thence shall be torn in pieces; because many are their transgressions, very numerous are their backslidings.

Therefore has a lion out of the forest struck them, and a wolf has destroyed them even to [their] houses, and a leopard has watched against their cities: all that go forth from them shall be hunted: for they have multiplied their ungodliness, they have strengthened themselves in their revoltings.

7 How shall I for this pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by those that are not gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's house.

In what [way] shall I forgive you for these things? Your sons have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: and I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in harlots' houses.

8 As robust horses they rose by times in the morning: every one neighed after the wife of his neighbor.

They became as wanton horses: they neighed each one after his neighbor's wife.

9 Shall I not for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: and shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?

Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this.

10 Scale ye her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: remove her young shoots; for they are not the Lord's.

Go up upon her battlements, and break [them] down; but make not a full end: leave her buttresses: for they are the Lord's.

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

For the house of Israel have indeed dealt treacherously against me, says the Lord: the house of Juda also

12 They have denied the Lord, and said, “He existeth not; nor will evil come over us; and the sword and famine shall we not see.

have lied to their Lord, and they have said, These things are not so; no evils shall come upon us; and we shall not see sword or famine.

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

Our prophets became wind, and the word of the Lord was not in them.

14 Therefore thus hath said the Lord the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth to be a fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Therefore thus says the Lord Almighty, Because you have spoken this word, behold, I have made my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Lo, I will bring over you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is a most ancient nation, a nation whose language thou wilt not know, and thou wilt not understand what they speak.

Behold, I [will] bring upon you a nation from far, O house of Israel, says the Lord; a nation the sound of whose language one shall not understand.

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

[They are] all mighty men:

17 And they shall consume thy harvest, and thy bread; they shall consume thy sons and thy daughters; they shall consume thy flocks and thy herds; they shall consume thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall depopulate thy fortified cities, those wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

and they shall devour your harvest, and your bread; and shall devour your sons, and your daughters; and they shall devour your sheep, and your calves, and devour your vineyards, and your fig-plantations, and your olive yards: and they shall utterly destroy your strong cities, wherein you trusted, with the sword.

18 Nevertheless even in those days, saith the Lord, will I not make a full end of you.

And it shall come to pass in those days, says the Lord your God, that I will not utterly destroy you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye will say, For what reason hath the Lord our God done all these things unto us? that thou shalt say unto them, In the same manner as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

And it shall come to pass, when you shall say, Therefore has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you shall say to them, Because you served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

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

Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Juda.

21 Do now hear this, O sottish people, who have no heart; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not;

Hear you now these things, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes, and see not; and have ears, and hear not:

22 Will ye not fear me? saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand as a bound for the sea by an everlasting law, which it can never pass over? and though the waves thereof be upheaved, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

will you not be afraid of me? says the Lord; and will you not fear before me, who have set the sand for a bound to the sea, [as] a perpetual ordinance, and it shall not pass it: yes, it shall rage, but not prevail; and its waves shall roar, but not pass over it.

23 But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart: they have departed [from the right] and have gone their way.

But this people has a disobedient and rebellious heart; and they have turned aside and gone back:

24 And they have not said in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, the early and the latter rain, in its season: the appointed weeks of the harvest doth he ever preserve for us.

and they have not said in their heart, Let us fear now the Lord our God, who gives us the early and latter rain, according to the season of the fulfillment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved [it] for us.

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

Your transgressions have turned away these things, and your sins have removed good things from you.

26 For there are found among my people wicked men: they lie in wait, as he that layeth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

For among my people were found ungodly men; and they have set snares to destroy men, and have caught [them].

27 As a coop is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore are they become great, and grown rich.

As a snare which has been set is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore have they grown great, and become rich:

28 They are grown fat, they are stout; yea, they surpass even the deeds of the wicked: they pronounce no [just] sentence, the sentence of the fatherless, that they might prosper; and the cause of the needy do they not judge.

and they have transgressed [the rule of] judgment; they have not judged the cause of the orphan, nor have they judged the cause of the widow.

29 shall I not for these things inflict punishment? saith the Lord: or shall on a nation such as this my soul not be avenged?

Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 An astonishing and horrible thing is committed in the land;

Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; but what will ye do in the end thereof?

the prophets utter unrighteous prophecies, and the priests have clapped their hands: and my people has loved [to have it] thus: and what will you do for the future.