Jeremiah 5

1 Go about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can fins a man that executeth judgement, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto 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 judgement, and seeks faithfulness; and I will pardon them, says the Lord.

2 And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely.

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

3 O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock, and they have 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 But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgement 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 judgement of God.

5 I will go therefore to the great men, and I will speak to them: for they known the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God: and behold these have together broken the yoke more, and have burst the bonds.

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.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening, hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened.

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 can I be merciful to thee? thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and rioted 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 They are become as amorous horses and stallions, every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

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

9 Shall I not visit for these things, sayeth the Lord? and shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?

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 down the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because 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 Juda have greatly transgressed 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, It is not he: and the evil shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine.

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 The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them.

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

14 Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold I will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as 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 Behold I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say.

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 valiant.

[They are] all mighty men:

17 And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons, and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks, and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards, and thy figs: and with the sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trustest.

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 in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction.

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

19 And if you shall say: why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own.

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 Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Juda, saying:

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

21 Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and 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 not you then fear me, saith the Lord: and will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall 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 the heart of this people is become hard of belief and provoking, they are revolted and gone away.

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 fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fullness of the yearly harvest.

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.

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

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

26 For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men.

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

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

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 gross and fat: and have most wickedly transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, they have not judged the judgement of the poor.

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.

29 Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?

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

30 Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land.

Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;

31 The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done 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.