Jeremiah 5
5
1Go everywhere through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and pay attention! Search all through her city squares to see if you can find even just one person who does what's right, anyone who is faithful, and I'll forgive the city. 2They may make promises in my name, but they're not sincere.
3Lord, aren't you always looking for faithfulness? You beat them, but they didn't care. You just about destroyed them, but they refused to accept your discipline. They were stubborn, hard as rock, and they wouldn't repent.
4Then I said to myself, “These people are only the poor—they're just fools who don't know any better. They certainly don't know what the Lord wants, God's right way of living. 5Let me go to and talk to the ones in charge. They would surely know what the Lord wants, God's right way of living.” But they had all broken off the yoke as well, and ripped off the chains.
6As a result a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will rip them apart. A leopard will lie in wait for them near their towns, ready to tear to pieces anyone who goes outside. For they keep on rebelling, and turn away from me so often.
7Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned me and believe in gods that are not gods. I gave them everything they need, yet they went and committed adultery, gathering together at prostitutes' houses. 8They're like virile stallions wanting sex, each of them neighing with lust after his neighbor's wife.
9Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
10Go through her vineyards and damage them, but don't destroy them completely. Rip off her branches, because they don't belong to the Lord. 11The people of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me, declares the Lord.
12They have lied about the Lord, saying, “He won't do anything. Nothing bad will happen to us. We won't have war or famine. 13The prophets are just like the wind. The Lord doesn't speak through them. What they predict can happen to them!”
14So this is the reply from the Lord God Almighty: Because of what you've said, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth and you people like the wood it burns up. 15Look! I am bringing a nation from far away to attack you, people of Israel, declares the Lord. It's a powerful nation that has existed for a long time; it's a nation whose language you don't know, and when they speak you can't understand them. 16Their arrows bring death;#5:16. “Their arrows bring death”: literally, “their quivers are like an open grave.” they are all strong warriors. 17They will consume your harvest and your food; they will destroy your sons and your daughters; they will eat your flocks and your herds; they will feed on your vines and your fig trees. They will attack and will destroy the fortified towns that you have so much confidence in.
18But even at that time I won't completely destroy you, declares the Lord. 19When people ask you Jeremiah, “Why did the Lord our God do all these things to us?” you are to tell them, “In the same way you have abandoned me and served foreign gods here in your country, so you will serve foreigners in a country that isn't your own.”
20Announce this to the people of Jacob and Judah: 21Listen to this, you foolish, stupid people, who have eyes but don't see, who have ears but don't hear.
22Aren't you afraid of what I can do? declares the Lord. Don't you think you should tremble in my presence? I am the one who set up the shore as the sea's boundary, an everlasting limit that it can't cross. The waves crash against it, but they can't defeat it. They roar, but they can't cross the barrier.
23But you people have a stubborn and rebellious attitude. You have left me and gone your own way. 24You didn't think to say, “We should appreciate the Lord our God, who sends the autumn and spring rains at the right time, who makes sure we can have a harvest every year.” 25Your wrong actions have taken these benefits from you; your sins have deprived you of my blessings.
26For there are wicked men among my people. They're like bird-trappers, secretly watching and waiting to catch people in their snare. 27Their homes are full of their ill-gotten gains, like cages full of birds. That's why they've become powerful and rich. 28They've grown fat and smooth, and have become experts in evil. They deny justice to orphans, and they don't defend the rights of those in need.
29Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
30Something horrible, something terrible has happened here in this country. 31The prophets give false prophecies; the priests rule as they please. My people love it like this, but what will you do when it all falls apart?
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Jeremiah 5
5
1Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her. 2And though they say, As the LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3O LORD, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were 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. 4Then I said, Surely these are poor: they are foolish; for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgement of their God: 5I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of the LORD, and the judgement of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bands. 6Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities, every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. 7How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses. 8They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife, 9shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches: for they are not the LORD'S. 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 12They have denied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 14Wherefore thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 16Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17And they shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall beat down thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. 18But even in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. 19And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. 23But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you. 26For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. 27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness: they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they should prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge, 29shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land; 31the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
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