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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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 5
5
1Go about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man that executeth judgement and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto it.
2And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely.
3O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than the rock and they have refused to return.
4But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God.
5I will go therefore to the great men and I will speak to them: for they known the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God. And, behold, these have together broken the yoke more and have burst the bonds.
6Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened.
7How can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have forsaken me and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery and rioted in the harlot's house.
8They are become as amorous horses and stallions: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
9Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? And shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?
10Scale down the walls thereof and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because they are not the Lord's.
11For the house of Israel and the house of Juda have greatly transgressed against me, saith the Lord.
12They have denied the Lord and said: It is not he and the evil shall not come upon us. We shall not see the sword and famine.
13The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them.
14Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth as fire and this people as wood; and it shall devour them.
15Behold, I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say.
16Their quiver is as an open sepulchre: they are all valiant.
17And they shall eat up thy corn and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards and thy figs: and with the sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trustest.
18Nevertheless, in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction.
19And if you shall say: Why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? Thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own.
20Declare ye this to the house of Jacob and publish it in Juda, saying:
21Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes and see not, and ears and hear not.
22Will not you then fear me? saith the Lord. And will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance which it shall not pass over. And the waves thereof shall toss themselves and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall not pass over it.
23But the heart of this people is become hard of belief and provoking: they are revolted and gone away.
24And they have not said in their heart: Let us fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fullness of the yearly harvest.
25Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
26For among my people are found wicked men that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men.
27As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit: therefore are they become great and enriched.
28They are grown gross and fat: and have most wickedly transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, they have not judged the judgement of the poor.
29Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?
30Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land.
31The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things. What then shall be done in the end thereof?
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.