Jeremiah 5
5
Is anyone honest and faithful?
The LORD said to me:
1“Search Jerusalem
for honest people
who try to be faithful.
If you can find even one,
I'll forgive the whole city.
2Everyone breaks promises
made in my name.”
3I answered, “I know
that you look for truth.
You punished your people
for their lies,
but in spite of the pain,
they became more stubborn
and refused to turn back
to you.”
4Then I thought to myself,
“These common people
act like fools,
and they have never learnt
what the LORD their God
demands of them.
5I'll go and talk to the leaders.
They know what God demands.”
But even they had decided
not to obey the LORD.
6The people have rebelled
and rejected the LORD
too many times.
So enemies will attack
like lions from the forest
or wolves from the desert.
Those enemies will watch
the towns of Judah,
and like leopards
they will tear to pieces
whoever goes outside.
Enemies will punish Judah
The LORD said:
7People of Judah,
how can I forgive you?
I gave you everything,
but you abandoned me
and worshipped idols.
You men go to prostitutes
and are unfaithful
to your wives.
8You are no better than animals,
and you always want sex
with someone else's wife.
9Why shouldn't I punish
the people of Judah?
10I will tell their enemies,
“Go through my vineyard.
Don't destroy the vines,
but cut off the branches,
because they are the people
who don't belong to me.”
11In every way, Judah and Israel
have been unfaithful to me.
12-13Their prophets lie and say,
“The LORD won't punish us.
We will have peace
and plenty of food.”
They tell these lies in my name,
so now they will be killed in war
or starve to death.
14I am the LORD God All-Powerful.
Jeremiah, I will tell you
exactly what to say.
Your words will be a fire;
Israel and Judah
will be the fuel.
15People of Israel,
I have made my decision.
An army from a distant country
will attack you.
I've chosen an ancient nation,
and you won't understand
their language.
16All of them are warriors,
and their arrows bring death.
17This nation will eat your crops
and livestock;
they will leave no fruit
on your vines or trees.
And although you feel safe
behind thick walls,
your towns will be destroyed
and your children killed.
Israel refused to worship the LORD
18The LORD said:
Jeremiah, the enemy army won't kill everyone in Judah. 19And the people who survive will ask, “Why did the LORD our God do such terrible things to us?” Then tell them:
I am the LORD,
but you abandoned me
and worshipped other gods
in your own land.
Now you will be slaves
in a foreign country.
20Tell these things to each other,
you people of Judah,
you descendants of Jacob.
21You fools! Why don't you listen#Is 6.9,10; Ez 12.2; Mk 8.18.
when I speak?
Why can't you understand
22that you should worship me#Job 38.8-11.
with fear and trembling?
I'm the one who made the shore
to hold back the ocean.
Waves may crash on the beach,
but they can come no further.
23You stubborn people have rebelled
and turned your backs on me.
24You refuse to say,
“Let's worship the LORD!
He's the one who sends rain
in spring and autumn
and gives us a good harvest.”
25That's why I cannot bless you!
26-27A hunter traps birds
and puts them in a cage,
but some of you trap humans
and make them your slaves.
You are evil, and you lie and cheat
to make yourselves rich.
You are powerful
28and prosperous,
but you refuse to help#5.28 refuse to help: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. the poor
get the justice they deserve.
29You need to be punished,
and so I will take revenge.
30Look at the terrible things
going on in this country.
I am shocked!
31Prophets give their messages
in the name of a false god,#5.31 give…god: Or “tell lies”.
my priests don't want
to serve me,#5.31 don't…me: Or “don't care what I want”.
and you—my own people—
like it this way!
But on the day of disaster,
where will you turn for help?
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Jeremiah 5: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 5
5
The Evil of the People of Judah
1The Lord says, “Walk the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and think about these things. Search the public squares of the city. See if you can find one good person, one who does honest things and who searches for the truth. If you find one good person, I will forgive Jerusalem. 2The people make promises and say, ‘As the Lord lives.’ But they don’t really mean it!”
3Lord, I know that you want people
to be loyal to you.
You hit the people of Judah,
but they did not feel any pain.
You destroyed them,
but they refused to learn their lesson.
They became very stubborn.
They refused to be sorry for the bad things they did.
4But I said to myself,
“It must be only the poor who are so foolish.
They have not learned the way of the Lord.
They don’t know the teachings of their God.
5So I will go to the leaders of Judah.
I will talk to them.
Surely the leaders know the way of the Lord.
Surely they know the law of their God.”
But the leaders had all joined together
to break away from serving God.
6So a lion from the forest will attack them.
A wolf from the desert will kill them.
A leopard is hiding near their cities,
to tear to pieces anyone who comes out.
That’s because the people have sinned again and again.
Many times they have wandered away from God.
7God says, “People of Judah, why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me.
They made promises to idols that are not really gods!
I gave your children everything they needed,
but they were still unfaithful to me!
They spent their time with prostitutes.
8They are like horses that have had plenty to eat and are ready to mate.
They are like a horse that is calling its neighbor’s wife.
9Should I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?”
This message is from the Lord.
“You know I should punish a nation such as this.
I should give it the punishment it deserves.
10“Go along the rows of Judah’s grapevines.
Cut down the vines. (But don’t completely destroy them.)
Cut off all their branches, because they don’t belong to the Lord.
11The family of Israel and the family of Judah
have been unfaithful to me in every way.”
This message is from the Lord.
12“Those people lied about the Lord.
They said, ‘He will not do anything to us.
Nothing bad will happen to us.
We will never see an army attack us.
We will never starve.’
13The prophets are only empty wind.#5:13 wind This is a wordplay. The Hebrew word for wind is like the word for spirit.
The word of God is not in them.#5:13 The word … them Literally, “And the ‘He said’ is not in them.”
Bad things will happen to them.”
14The Lord God All-Powerful said these things:
“The people said I would not punish them.
So, Jeremiah, the words I give you will be like fire,
and these people will be like wood.
That fire will burn them up completely.”
15Family of Israel, this message is from the Lord.
“I will soon bring a nation from far away to attack you.
It is an old nation;
it is an ancient nation.
The people of that nation speak a language that you do not know.
You cannot understand what they say.
16Their arrow bags are like open graves.
All their men are strong soldiers.
17They will eat all the crops that you gathered.
They will eat all your food.
They will destroy your sons and daughters.
They will eat your flocks and your herds.
They will eat your grapes and your figs.
They will destroy your strong cities with their swords.
They will destroy the strong cities that you trust in.”
18This message is from the Lord: “But, Judah, when these terrible days come, I will not fully destroy you. 19The people of Judah will ask you, ‘Jeremiah, why has the Lord our God done this bad thing to us?’ Give them this answer: ‘You people of Judah have left me, and you have served foreign idols in your own land. You did these things, so now you will serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.’
20“Tell this message to the family of Jacob,
and tell it in the nation of Judah.
21Hear this message,
you foolish people who have no sense.
You have eyes, but you don’t see!
You have ears, but you don’t listen!
22Surely you are afraid of me.”
This message is from the Lord.
“You should shake with fear in front of me.
I am the one who made the sandy shores to hold back the sea.
I made it that way to keep the water in its place forever.
The waves may pound the beach, but they will not destroy it.
The waves may roar as they come in, but they cannot go beyond the beach.
23But the people of Judah are stubborn.
They are always planning ways to turn against me.
They turned away from me and left me.
24The people of Judah never say to themselves,
‘Let’s fear and respect the Lord our God.
He gives us autumn and spring rains at just the right time.
He makes sure that we have the harvest at just the right time.’
25You don’t have these blessings because you have done wrong.
Your sins have kept these good things away from you.
26There are evil men among my people.
They are like men who make nets for catching birds.#5:26 men … birds The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
They set their traps,
but they catch people instead of birds.
27Their houses are full of lies,
like a cage full of birds.
Their lies made them rich and powerful.
28They have grown big and fat from the evil they have done.
There is no end to the evil they do.
They will not plead the case of children who have no parents.
They will not help these orphans.
They will not let the poor be judged fairly.
29Should I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?”
This message is from the Lord.
“You know I should punish a nation such as this.
I should give it the punishment it deserves.
30“A terrible and shocking thing
has happened in the land of Judah.
31The prophets tell lies.
The priests will not do what they were chosen to do,#5:31 priests … were chosen to do The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
and my people love it this way!
But what will you people do when your punishment comes?
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