Jeremiah 5
5
God’s Just Judgment
1Roam the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares! If you can find a person, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, then I will pardon the city.
2Though they say, “As Adonai lives!” surely they swear falsely.
3Adonai, do Your eyes not look for faithfulness? You struck them, but they did not grieve. You disciplined them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone. They refused to return.
4Then I said: These are only the poor. They are foolish. For they do not know the way of Adonai, the ordinance of their God.
5I will go to the distinguished and speak to them. Surely they know the way of Adonai, the ordinance of their God. But they too had broken the yoke and torn off the bonds.
6Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them. A desert wolf will ravage them. A leopard watches over their cities. Everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces, For their rebellion is great, their backslidings frequent.
7“Why therefore should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those who are not gods. Even though I fed them well, they committed adultery and thronged to the prostitute houses.
8They are well-fed, lustful stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9For such, should I not punish them?” It is a declaration of Adonai. “On such a nation as this should I not avenge Myself?
10Go up into her vines and ravage them, but do not completely destroy them. Strip away her branches for they are not Adonai’s.
11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
12They have lied about Adonai saying: “Not He! No harm will come to us. Nor will we see sword or famine.
13The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them. Let what they say be done to them!”
14Therefore thus says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot: “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire and this people wood— and it will devour them.
15See, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel.” It is a declaration of Adonai. “It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you neither know nor understand what they say.
16Their quiver is an open grave. They are all mighty warriors.
17They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your herds. They will devour your vines and your fig trees. They will demolish your fortified cities —the ones in which you trust— with the sword.
18“Yet even in those days,” declares Adonai, “I will not completely destroy you.
19So it will come to pass that when you ask, ‘Why has Adonai Eloheinu done all these things to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20“Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21‘Hear this you foolish people who have no understanding, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
22Do you not fear Me?’ says Adonai. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence?’ For I made the sand a boundary of the sea, an everlasting decree that cannot be broken. Though the waves roll, they cannot prevail. Though they roar, they cannot cross it.
23But this people have a stubborn and rebellious heart. They have turned aside and gone away.
24They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear Adonai Eloheinu, who gives rain in its season —fall rain and spring rain— who reserves for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25Your iniquities have turned these away, your sins have deprived you of bounty.
26For among My people are wicked men, watching like bait-layers lying in wait. They set a trap—they catch men.
27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. That is why they grew great and rich.
28They grew fat and sleek. They also overlooked evil deeds. They do not uphold a cause— the cause of an orphan to prosper— nor do they defend the right of the poor.
29Should I not punish them?” says Adonai. “On such a nation should I not avenge Myself?
30An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land.
31The prophets prophesy falsely, the kohanim rule by their own authority, and My people love it this way! But what will you do in the end?”
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 5
5
No One Is Right
1The Lord says, “Walk up and down the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and think about these things.
Search the public squares of the city.
See if you can find one person who does honest things.
Find just one who searches for the truth.
If you can, I will forgive this city.
2The people say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
But they don’t really mean it.”
3Lord, don’t you look for truth in people?
You hit the people of Judah.
But they didn’t feel any pain.
You crushed them,
but they refused to learn what is right.
They became more stubborn than a rock.
They refused to turn back to God.
4But I thought,
“These are only the poor, foolish people.
They have not learned the way of the Lord.
They do not know what their God wants them to do.
5So I will go to the leaders of Judah.
I will talk to them.
Surely they understand the way of the Lord.
They know what God wants them to do.”
But the leaders had all joined together to break away from the Lord.
They broke their ties with him.
6So a lion from the forest will attack them.
A wolf from the desert will kill them.
A leopard is hiding and waiting for them near their towns.
It will tear to pieces anyone who comes out of the city.
This will happen because the people of Judah have sinned greatly.
They have wandered away from the Lord many times.
7The Lord said, “Tell me why I should forgive you.
Your children have left me.
They have made promises to idols that are not gods at all.
I gave your children everything they needed.
But they still were like an unfaithful wife to me.
They spent much time in houses of prostitutes.
8They are like well-fed, male horses filled with sexual desire.
Each one wants another man’s wife.
9Shouldn’t I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?” says the Lord.
“I should give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves.
10“Go along and cut down Judah’s vineyards.
But do not completely destroy them.
Cut off all her people as if they were branches.
Do it because they do not belong to the Lord.
11The families of Israel and Judah
have been completely unfaithful to me,” says the Lord!
12Those people have lied about the Lord.
They have said, “The Lord will not do anything to us!
Nothing bad will happen to us.
We will never see war or hunger.
13The prophets are like an empty wind.
The word of God is not in them.
Let these bad things they say happen to them.”
14So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“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 the fire burns up.
15Listen, family of Israel,” says the Lord.
“I will soon bring a nation from far away to attack you.
It is an old nation that has lasted a long time.
The people there speak a language you do not know.
You cannot understand what they say.
16Their arrows bring death.
All their men are strong warriors.
17They will eat your crops and your food.
They will eat your sons and daughters.
They will eat your flocks and herds.
They will eat your grapes and figs.
They will destroy with their swords
the strong, walled cities you trust in!
18“Yet even then,” says the Lord, “I will not destroy you completely. 19The people of Judah will ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done this terrible thing to us?’ Give them this answer: ‘You have left the Lord. You have served foreign idols in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you!’
20“Announce this message to the family of Jacob.
And tell it to the nation of Judah:
21Hear this message, you foolish people who have no sense.
You have eyes, but you don’t really see.
You have ears, but you don’t really listen.
22Surely you are afraid of me,” says the Lord.
“You should shake with fear in my presence.
I am the one who made the beaches to be a border for the sea.
They keep the water in its place forever.
The waves may pound the beach, but they can’t win over it.
The waves may roar,
but they cannot go beyond it.
23But the people of Judah are stubborn and have turned against me.
They have turned aside and gone away from me.
24They do not say to themselves,
‘We should fear the Lord our God.
He gives us autumn and spring rains in their seasons.
He makes sure we have the harvest at the right time.’
25But your evil has kept away both rain and harvest.
Your sins have kept you from enjoying good things.
26There are wicked men among my people.
They are like men who make nets for catching birds.
But they set their traps to catch men instead of birds.
27Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of lies.
They have become rich and powerful.
28They have grown big and fat.
There is no end to the evil things they do.
They won’t plead the case of the orphan.
They won’t help the poor be judged fairly.
29Shouldn’t I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?” says the Lord.
“I should give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves.
30“A terrible and shocking thing
has happened in the land of Judah:
31The prophets tell lies.
The priests take power into their own hands.
And my people love it this way.
But what will you do when the end comes?
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