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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 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 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 became as wanton horses: they neighed each one 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 for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged 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 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! Yet make ye not a full end! Take ye away her branches, For they belong not to Jehovah!

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

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

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 denied Jehovah, And have said, “It is not He; Evil shall not come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine.

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

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

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 [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.

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 [They are] all mighty men:

Their quiver is like an open sepulchre; 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.

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

Yet even in those days, saith Jehovah, 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 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 Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Juda.

Declare ye 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 ye 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.

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

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

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 fulfillment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved [it] 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 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 withholden that which is good from you.

26 For among 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, Who lie on the watch like fowlers; They set a trap that they may 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 fraud. Therefore are they grown great and rich;

28 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.

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 for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged 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 Shocking and horrible deeds have been done on the land;

Astonishing and horrible is that which is done in this 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 rule under their guidance, And my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end of it?