Jeremiah 5

1 “Travel the streets of Jerusalem; and gaze, and consider, and seek, in its wide streets. If you can find a man exercising judgment and seeking faith, then I will be forgiving to them.

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 For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”

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

3 O Lord, your eyes look with favor upon faith. You have struck them, and they have not grieved. You have bruised them, and they have refused to accept discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, and they are not willing to return.

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 But I said: Perhaps these are the poor and the senseless, who are ignorant of the way of the Lord, of the judgment 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 Therefore, I will go to great men, and I will speak with them. For they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. And behold, these ones have broken the yoke all the more; they have torn apart the bonds.

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 For this reason, a lion from the forest has struck them down, a wolf toward evening has laid waste to them, a leopard lies in wait over their cities. All who go out from there will be taken. For their transgressions have been multiplied; their rebellions have been strengthened.

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 “Over which things am I able to be merciful to you? Your sons have forsaken me, and they swear by those who are not gods. I gave them everything, and they committed adultery, and they indulged themselves in the house of the harlot.

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 have become like wild horses in heat; each one was neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

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

9 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation such as this?

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

10 Scale its walls and tear them down. But do not be willing to bring about its very end. Take away its plantings, for they are not the Lord’s.

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 greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.

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

12 They have denied the Lord, and they have said, ‘It is not him,’ and, ‘Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see famine and the sword.’

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 have spoken into the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore, these things will happen to them.”

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

14 Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Since you have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth like fire and this people like wood, and it will devour them.

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, O house of Israel, I will lead over you a far away nation, says the Lord, a robust nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not know, nor will you understand what they are saying.

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 quiver is like an open sepulcher. They are all strong.

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

17 And they will consume your grain fields and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vineyards and your figs. And with the sword, they will crush your fortified cities, in which you have placed your 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 truly, in those days, says the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.

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

19 And if they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You shall say to them: ‘Just as you have abandoned me and have served a strange god in your own land, so will you serve strangers in a land 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 Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it known in Judah, saying:

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

21 Listen, O foolish people who have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears, but you 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 So then, will you not fear me, says the Lord. And will you not have sorrow before my face? I have placed the shore as a limit for the sea, as an everlasting precept that it will not transgress. And its waves will crash, but they will not prevail; and its waves will swell, but they will not go across.

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 the heart of this people has become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away and departed.

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

24 And they have not said in their heart: ‘Let us dread the Lord our God, who gives us the timely and the late rains, in their proper time, who guards the full measure of the yearly harvest for us.’

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 turned these things away, and your sins have held back good things from you.

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

26 For the impious are found among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting snares, for they set traps 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 Just as a snare is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result, they have become exalted and enriched.

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 stout and fat. And they have transgressed my words most wickedly. They have not judged the case of the widow; they have not given guidance to the case of the orphan; and they have not judged a judgment for the poor.

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 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?

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

30 Astonishing and wondrous things have been done upon the earth.

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

31 The prophets have prophesied lies, and the priests have applauded with their hands, and my people have loved these things. So then, what shall be done at the very 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?