Jeremiah 5
5
The Sins of Judah
1“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the Lord.
“Look high and low; search throughout the city!
If you can find even one just and honest person,
I will not destroy the city.
2But even when they are under oath,
saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
they are still telling lies!”
3 Lord, you are searching for honesty.
You struck your people,
but they paid no attention.
You crushed them,
but they refused to be corrected.
They are determined, with faces set like stone;
they have refused to repent.
4Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor?
They are ignorant.
They don’t know the ways of the Lord.
They don’t understand God’s laws.
5So I will go and speak to their leaders.
Surely they know the ways of the Lord
and understand God’s laws.”
But the leaders, too, as one man,
had thrown off God’s yoke
and broken his chains.
6So now a lion from the forest will attack them;
a wolf from the desert will pounce on them.
A leopard will lurk near their towns,
tearing apart any who dare to venture out.
For their rebellion is great,
and their sins are many.
7“How can I pardon you?
For even your children have turned from me.
They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all!
I fed my people until they were full.
But they thanked me by committing adultery
and lining up at the brothels.
8They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?
10“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines,
leaving a scattered few alive.
Strip the branches from the vines,
for these people do not belong to the Lord.
11The people of Israel and Judah
are full of treachery against me,”
says the Lord.
12“They have lied about the Lord
and said, ‘He won’t bother us!
No disasters will come upon us.
There will be no war or famine.
13God’s prophets are all windbags
who don’t really speak for him.
Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”
14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Because the people are talking like this,
my messages will flame out of your mouth
and burn the people like kindling wood.
15O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,”
says the Lord.
“It is a mighty nation,
an ancient nation,
a people whose language you do not know,
whose speech you cannot understand.
16Their weapons are deadly;
their warriors are mighty.
17They will devour the food of your harvest;
they will devour your sons and daughters.
They will devour your flocks and herds;
they will devour your grapes and figs.
And they will destroy your fortified towns,
which you think are so safe.
18“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the Lord. 19“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the Lord our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’
A Warning for God’s People
20“Make this announcement to Israel,#5:20 Hebrew to the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
and say this to Judah:
21Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
with eyes that do not see
and ears that do not hear.
22Have you no respect for me?
Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
The waves may toss and roar,
but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
23But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned away and abandoned me.
24They do not say from the heart,
‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
25Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.
Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.
26“Among my people are wicked men
who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind.
They continually set traps
to catch people.
27Like a cage filled with birds,
their homes are filled with evil plots.
And now they are great and rich.
28They are fat and sleek,
and there is no limit to their wicked deeds.
They refuse to provide justice to orphans
and deny the rights of the poor.
29Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?
30A horrible and shocking thing
has happened in this land—
31the prophets give false prophecies,
and the priests rule with an iron hand.
Worse yet, my people like it that way!
But what will you do when the end comes?
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Jeremiah 5: NLT
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Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 5
5
1“Diligently search the streets of Yerushalayim, and please look, and know and seek in her open places if you find a man, if there is anyone doing right-ruling, seeking the truth, then I shall pardon her.
2“Even when they say, ‘As יהוה lives,’ they swear falsely, for certain.”
3O יהוה, are Your eyes not on truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive instruction. They made their faces stronger than rock, they refused to turn back.
4Then I said, “These are only the poor. They have been foolish, for they have not known the way of יהוה, the right-ruling of their Elohim.
5“Let me go to the great men and speak to them, for they have known the way of יהוה, the right-ruling of their Elohim.” But these have altogether broken the yoke and torn off the bonds.
6Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them, a wolf of the deserts ravage them. A leopard is watching over their cities, whoever comes out of them is torn in pieces. For their transgressions have been many, their backslidings have been numerous.
7“Why should I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those that are not mighty ones. When I had filled them up, they then committed adultery and they thronged to the house of a whore.
8“They were like well-fed horses, every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
9“Would I not punish them for this?” declares יהוה. “And would I not revenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10“Go up on her walls and destroy, but do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, for they do not belong to יהוה.
11“For the house of Yisra’ĕl and the house of Yehuḏah have utterly betrayed Me,” declares יהוה.
12They have been untrue to יהוה, and said, “It is not He. No evil comes upon us, nor do we see sword or scarcity of food.”
13And the prophets have become wind, and the Word is not in them. Thus shall be done to them:
14Therefore thus said יהוה Elohim of hosts, “Because you speak this word, see, I am making My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
15“See, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה. “It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor do you understand what they say.
16“Their quiver is like an open burial-site, all of them are mighty men.
17“And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds, they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. With the sword they shall demolish your walled cities, in which you are trusting.
18“But even in those days,” declares יהוה, “I shall not make a complete end of you.
19“And it shall be, when they say, ‘Why does יהוה our Elohim do all this to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign mighty ones in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’
20“Declare this in the house of Ya‛aqoḇ and proclaim it in Yehuḏah, saying,
21Hear this now, O foolish people without heart, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:
22Do you not fear Me?’ declares יהוה. ‘Do you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, by an everlasting law, and it does not pass over it? Though its waves toss to and fro, they are not able; though they roar, they do not pass over it.
23But this people has a backsliding and rebellious heart, they have turned aside and gone away.
24And they do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear יהוה our Elohim, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He guards for us, the required-by-law, weeks#Lit. Shaḇu‛oth. of the harvest.”
25Your crookednesses have turned these away, and your sins have kept the good from you.
26For among My people are found wrong men who lie in wait as one who sets snares. They have set up a trap, they catch men.
27As a cage is filled with birds, so their houses are filled with deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
28They have become fat, they are sleek. They also overlook the deeds of the wrong. They did not rightly rule the cause of the fatherless, so that they prosper. And the right of the needy they did not rightly rule.
29Would I not punish them for this?’ declares יהוה. ‘Would I not revenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
30“An astounding and horrible matter has come to be in the land:
31The prophets have prophesied falsely,#See Jer. 27:14, 15 and the priests rule by their own hand, and My people have loved it so.#See Isa. 30:10; 2Tim. 4:3 And what are you going to do at the end of it?
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