Jeremiah 5

1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.

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 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”

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

3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

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 Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice 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 will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.

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 a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

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 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.

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 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

They are as well-fed horses in the morning; Every one neigheth after his neighbor's wife.

9 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

10 Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.

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 the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,”

For they have proved false to me, The house of Israel and the house of Judah, saith Jehovah.

12 They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.

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 The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”

The prophets are but wind, And the word is not in them; Thus may it happen to them!”

14 Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.

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 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.

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 Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.

Their quiver is like an open sepulchre; They are all mighty men.

17 They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”

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 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.

Yet even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”

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 this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:

Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, And publish it in Judah, saying:

21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

Hear ye now this, O foolish people and without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, Who have ears and hear not!

22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.

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 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.

But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; They revolt continually.

24 They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’

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 diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.

Your iniquities have turned away these things, And your sins have withholden that which is good from you.

26 For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.

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 Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and 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 grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

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 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

Shall I not punish for these things, saith Jehovah? Shall I not be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.

Astonishing and horrible is that which is done in this land;

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the 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?