Jeremias 5

1 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 judgement, and seeks faithfulness; and I will pardon them, says the Lord.

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its broad places, if ye can find a man, if there is [any] that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

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

And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

3 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.

O LORD, [are] not thy eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken 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, It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they know not the way of the Lord, or the judgement of God.

Therefore I said, Surely these [are] poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, [nor] the judgment of their God.

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

I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the LORD, [and] the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, [and] burst the bonds.

6 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.

Wherefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, [and] a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased.

7 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.

How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by [them that are] no gods: when I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

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

They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbor's wife.

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

Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

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

Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they [are] not the LORD'S.

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

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

12 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.

They have belied the LORD, and said, [It is] not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

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

And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not in them: thus shall it be done to them.

14 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.

Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 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.

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it [is] a mighty nation, it [is] an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16 [They are] all mighty men:

Their quiver [is] as an open sepulcher, they [are] all mighty men.

17 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.

And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, [which] thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees: they shall impoverish with the sword thy fortified cities, in which thou hast trusted.

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

Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

19 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.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why doeth the LORD our God all these [things] to us? then shalt thou answer 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 Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Juda.

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

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

Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not:

22 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.

Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand [for] the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though its waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

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

But this people have a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.

24 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 fulfilment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved [it] for us.

Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season: he reserveth to us the appointed weeks of harvest.

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

Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins have withheld good [things] from you.

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

For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

27 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:

As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses full of deceit: therefore they have become great, and have grown rich.

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

They have become fat, they shine: yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

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

Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

31 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.

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