Jeremiah 5
5
The Depravity of Jerusalem
1Roam#2Ch 16:9 through the streets of Jerusalem.
Investigate;#5:1 Lit See and know
search in her squares.
If you find one person,#Ps 14:1–3; Ezk 22:30; Rm 3:10
any who acts justly,
who pursues faithfulness,
then I will forgive her.#Gn 18:26–32
2When they say, “As the Lord lives,”#Jr 4:2
they are swearing falsely.#Lv 19:12; Is 48:1; Jr 7:9
3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness?#2Ch 16:9; Ps 51:6
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.#Pr 23:35
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.#Pr 27:22
They made their faces harder than rock,#Ezk 3:7–9
and they refused to return.#Hs 11:5
4Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have been foolish.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,#Gn 18:19; 2Kg 17:26; 21:22; Ps 95:10; Jr 8:7; Hs 4:6
the justice of their God.#Mc 3:1
5I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.#Ps 103:7
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.#Ps 2:3; Jr 2:20
6Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.#2Kg 17:26; Jr 4:7; 25:38
A wolf from arid plains will ravage them.
A leopard#Hs 13:7; Rv 13:2 stalks their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,#Is 59:12
their unfaithful deeds numerous.#Jr 3:6,8,11–12,22; 14:7; 30:15; Am 5:12
7Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
and sworn by those who are not gods.#Dt 32:21; Jos 23:7; Gl 4:8
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;#Hs 4:10
they gashed themselves#1Kg 18:24 at the#5:7 Or adultery and trooped to the, or adultery and lodged at the; Hb obscure prostitute’s house.
8They are well-fed,#5:8 Lit well-equipped; Hb obscure eager#5:8 Lit early-rising; Hb obscure stallions,#Ezk 23:20
each neighing#Jr 13:27 after someone else’s wife.#Ex 20:14; Ezk 22:11
9Should I not punish them for these things?#Jr 5:29; 8:10; 9:9
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself#Dt 32:35; Heb 10:30
on such a nation as this?
10Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,#2Kg 24:2
but do not finish them off.#Jr 4:27
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.#Hs 1:9
11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with me.#Is 21:2; 24:16; 48:8; Hs 6:7
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, “It won’t happen.#5:12 Lit “He does not exist#Is 28:15; Jr 23:17
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Armies says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make my words
become fire in your mouth.#Hs 6:5; Rv 11:5
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.#Zch 12:6
15I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,#Is 10:3; 13:5; 30:27; Jr 4:16
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.#Dt 28:49; Is 28:11; 33:19; 1Co 14:21
16Their quiver is like an open grave;#Ps 5:9; Rm 3:13
they are all warriors.
17They will consume your harvest and your food.#Lv 26:16; Dt 28:31,33,51
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
With the sword they will destroy
your fortified cities#Hs 8:14 in which you trust.
18“But even in those days” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “I will not finish you off.#2Ch 12:12; Jr 4:27; 5:10; 30:11; Ezk 11:13; 20:17; Rm 11:1–5 19When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us? ’ You will respond to them, ‘Just as you abandoned me#Dt 28:20; 29:24–25; 31:16; Jdg 2:12; 1Sm 8:8; 1Kg 9:8–9; Is 1:4,28; Jr 1:16; 2:13,17,19; 16:11; 17:13 and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ #Dt 4:27–28; 28:47–48
20“Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21Hear this,
you foolish and senseless#5:21 Lit without heart people.#Dt 32:6
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear.#Ps 115:5–6; 135:16–17; Is 6:9; 42:20; Ezk 12:2; Mt 13:14; Mk 8:18
22Do you not fear me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before me,
the one who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?#Jb 26:10; 38:10–11; Ps 104:9; Pr 8:29
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.#Dt 21:18,20; Ps 78:8; Is 1:5; Heb 3:12
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,#Pr 9:10; Hs 6:1
who gives the seasonal rains, both autumn and spring,#Dt 11:14; Jl 2:23; Mt 5:45
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld my bounty from you,#Is 59:2
26for wicked men live among my people.
They watch like hunters#5:26 Lit hunters of birds lying in wait.#5:26 Hb obscure#Pr 1:11
They set a trap;#Ps 10:9
they catch men.
27Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.#Ps 10:7; 50:19; Is 3:14; 5:18; 30:12; Jr 8:5; Zph 1:9; Ac 13:10; Rm 1:29
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28They have become fat#Dt 32:15 and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.#Dt 24:14; Jb 29:16; 30:25; 31:19; Ps 82:3–4; 140:12; Pr 14:31; 31:9; Is 1:23; Zch 7:10; Ac 4:34
29Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself#Jr 5:9; 8:19; Heb 10:30
on such a nation as this?
30“An appalling, horrible thing
has taken place in the land.#Hs 6:10
31The prophets prophesy falsely,#Jr 6:13; 8:10; 14:14; 20:6; 23:14,25–26,32; 27:10,14–16; 28:15; 29:9,21,31; Lm 2:14; Zch 13:3
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it?#Dt 32:29; Is 10:3
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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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