Jeremiah 5
1 [Yahweh said to the people of Jerusalem], “Go up and down every street. Search in the marketplaces to find people who do what is fair/right, who try to be faithful to me. [If you find even one person like that], I will forgive [the people of Jerusalem and not destroy] their city.
Cumpasse ye the weies of Jerusalem, and loke, and biholde ye, and seke ye in the stretis therof, whether ye fynden a man doynge doom, and sekynge feith; and Y schal be merciful to hem.
2 But when people there say, ‘I solemnly declare that as surely as Yahweh lives, [I will do what he says],’ they are lying.”
That if also thei seien, The Lord lyueth, yhe, thei schulen swere this falsli.
3 Yahweh, you are certainly [RHQ] searching for [people who tell the] truth. You struck/punished your people, but they did not pay any attention. You crushed them, but they ignored what you were telling them to do. They were extremely stubborn [IDM] and refused to return to you.
Lord, thin iyen biholden feith; thou hast smyte hem, and thei maden not sorewe; thou hast al tobroke hem, and thei forsoken to take chastisyng; thei maden her faces hardere than a stoon, and nolden turne ayen.
4 I thought, “[We cannot expect] these [people to act righteously, because they] are poor; they do not have any sense. They do not know the way Yahweh wants them to conduct their lives; they do not know what God requires them to do.
Forsothe Y seide, In hap thei ben pore men, and foolis, that knowen not the weie of the Lord, and the doom of her God.
5 So, I will go and talk to their leaders, because they [surely] know how God wants them to conduct their lives.” But they also have stopped obeying Yahweh [MET], and they will not allow him to lead them.
Therfor Y schal go to the principal men, and Y schal speke to hem; for thei knewen the weie of the Lord, and the doom of her God. And lo! thei han more broke togidere the yok, and han broke boondis.
6 Because of that, lions will come out of the forests and kill them; wolves from the desert will attack them; leopards that lurk/wait outside their cities will maul anyone who walks outside the cities. [Those things will happen] because the people have sinned very much against God and have turned away from him very frequently.
Therfor a lioun of the wode smoot hem; a wolf at euentid wastide hem, a parde wakynge on the citees of hem. Ech man that goith out of hem, schal be takun; for the trespassyngis of hem ben multiplied, the turnyngis awei of hem ben coumfortid.
7 Yahweh says, “I cannot [RHQ] forgive these people; [even] their children have abandoned me. When they solemnly declare something, they ask their gods [to show that what they say is true]. I gave my people everything that they needed, but they often went to [the shrines of their idols] and committed adultery there.
On what thing mai Y be merciful to thee? Thi sones han forsake me, and sweren bi hem that ben not goddis. Y fillide hem, and thei diden auowtrie, and in the hous of an hoore thei diden letcherie.
8 [Just like] [MET] well-fed male horses neigh, wanting sex with female horses, each of the men desires to have sex with his neighbor’s wife.
Thei ben maad horsis, and stalouns, louyeris to wymmen; ech man neiyede to the wijf of his neiybore.
9 (Should I not punish them for this [RHQ]?/I will certainly get revenge on this nation for this!) I will certainly get revenge [RHQ] on this nation whose people behave like that!
Whether Y schal not visite on these thingis, seith the Lord, and schal not my soule take veniaunce in siche a folk?
10 [I will say to your enemies], ‘The people [of Judah and Israel are like a vineyard]. Go along the rows in their vineyards and get rid of [most of] the people, but do not kill all of them. These people do not belong to me, [so get rid of them], [like a gardener] [MET] lops/cuts off branches from a vine.
Stye ye on the wallis therof, and distrie ye; but nyle ye make an endyng. Do ye awei the siouns therof, for thei ben not seruauntis of the Lord.
11 The people of Israel and Judah have turned away from me completely.’
For whi the hous of Israel and the hous of Juda hath trespassid bi trespassyng ayens me, seith the Lord;
12 They have lied about me and said, ‘He will not punish us! He will not cause us to experience disasters! We will not experience wars or famines!
thei denyeden the Lord, and seiden, He is not, nether yuel schal come on vs; we schulen not se swerd and hungur.
13 What [God’s] prophets say is nothing but hot air! They do not have messages [from God]! We would like [the disasters that they predict] to happen to them!’”
The profetis spaken ayens the wynd, and noon answer was in hem; therfor these thingis schulen come to hem.
14 So, this is what Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, has said to me: “Because my people are saying those things, I will give you a message to tell them [MTY] that will be [like] [MET] a fire, and [these people will be like] [MET] wood that the fire will burn up.
The Lord God of oostis seith these thingis, For ye spaken this word, lo! Y yyue my wordis in thi mouth in to fier, and this puple in to trees, and it schal deuoure hem.
15 Listen to this, you people of Israel: I will bring [the army of] a distant nation to attack you. It is a very powerful nation that has existed for a long time. They speak a language that you do not know and which you will not be able to understand.
Lo! thou hous of Israel, seith the Lord, Y schal brynge on you a folk fro fer; a strong folk, an eeld folk, `a folk whos langage thou schalt not knowe, nether schalt vndurstonde what it spekith.
16 Their soldiers are all very strong, and the arrows from their quivers [MET] will (send many Israeli men to their graves/cause many Israeli people to die).
The arowe caas therof is as an opyn sepulcre; alle ben stronge men.
17 They will eat the food that you have harvested from your fields, and eat your bread. They will kill your sons and daughters, and they will kill your flocks [of sheep] and herds [of cattle]. They will eat your grapes and your figs. They will [also] destroy your cities that have high walls around them and kill the people with their swords.
And it schal ete thi cornes, and it schal deuoure thi breed, thi sones and thi douytris; it schal ete thi flok, and thi droues, it schal ete also thi vyner, and thi fige tre; and it schal al to-breke thi stronge citees bi swerd, in whiche thou hast trist.
18 But even when those things happen, I will not get rid of all of you.
Netheles in tho daies, seith the Lord, Y schal not make you in to endyng.
19 And when the survivors ask, ‘Why is Yahweh our God doing this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘You rejected him and worshiped foreign gods in your [own] land, so [now] you will become slaves of foreigners in a land that is not your land.’”
That if ye seien, Whi hath oure Lord God do alle these thingis to vs? thou schalt seie to hem, As ye forsoken me, and serueden an alien god in youre lond, so ye schulen serue alien goddis in a lond not youre.
20 [Yahweh said to me], “Proclaim this to the people of Israel and Judah:
Telle ye this to the hous of Jacob, and make ye herd in Juda, and seie ye,
21 Listen to this, you people who are foolish and who do not have any sense: You have eyes, but [it is as though] you cannot see; you have ears, but [it is as though] you cannot hear.
Here, thou fonned puple, that hast noon herte; whiche han iyen, and seen not, and eeris, and heren not.
22 Why do you not revere me [RHQ]? You should [RHQ] tremble when you are in my presence! I, Yahweh, am the one who put a barrier along the shores so that the waters of the ocean cannot cross it [and flood the land]. The waves roll and roar, but they cannot go past that barrier.
Therfor schulen not ye drede me, seith the Lord, and schulen not ye make sorewe for my face? Whiche haue set grauel a terme, ether ende, to the see, an euerlastynge comaundement, whiche it schal not passe; and the wawis therof schulen be mouyd, and schulen not haue power; and schulen wexe greet, and schulen not passe it.
23 But you people [are not like the waves that obey me]. You people are very stubborn and rebellious. You have constantly turned away from me.
Forsothe an herte vnbileueful and terrynge to wraththe is maad to this puple; thei departiden,
24 You do not say to yourselves, ‘We should revere Yahweh our God, the one who sends us rain at the times when we need it, the one who causes the grain to become ripe at the harvest season.’
and yeden awei, and thei seiden not in her herte, Drede we oure Lord God, that yiueth to vs reyn tymeful, and lateful in his tyme; that kepith to vs the plente of heruest of the yeer.
25 It is because of the wrong things that you have done, that those good things have not happened; it is because of the sins that you have committed that you have been prevented from receiving those blessings.
Youre wickidnessis diden awei these thingis, and youre synnes forbediden good fro you.
26 Among my people are wicked people who hide along the roads to ambush/attack people like [SIM] men who hunt birds (put out nets/set traps) to catch them.
For ther ben foundun in my puple wickid men, settynge tresoun, as fouleres settynge snaris and trappis, to take men.
27 Like [a hunter has] a cage full of birds [that he has captured], their homes are full of things that they have gotten by deceiving others. So now they are [very] rich and powerful.
As a net, ether a trap, ful of briddis, so the housis of hem ben ful of gile. Therfor thei ben magnefied,
28 They are big and fat, and there is no limit to the evil things that they have done. They do not try to defend orphans in the courtrooms, and they do not help poor people to get what they have a right to receive.
and maad riche, maad fat with ynne, and maad fat with outforth, and thei passiden worst my wordis; thei demyden not a cause of a widewe, thei dressiden not the cause of a fadirles child, and thei demyden not the doom of pore men.
29 So I will certainly [RHQ] punish them for doing those things. I will certainly [RHQ] (get revenge on their nation/do to their nation what they deserve).
Whether Y schal not visite on these thingis, seith the Lord, ether schal not my soule take veniaunce on sich a folk?
30 Very appalling/horrible and terrible [DOU] things are happening in this country:
Wondur and merueilouse thingis ben maad in the lond;
31 Prophets speak [only] lies and priests rule by their own authority, and you people like that! But when you [start to] experience disasters, what will you do [RHQ]?”
profetis profesieden leesyng, and prestis ioieden with her hondis, and my puple louyde siche thingis. What therfor schal be don in the laste thing therof?
