Jeremiah 5
5
The Sin of Jerusalem
1People of Jerusalem, run through your streets!
Look around! See for yourselves!
Search the market places!
Can you find one person
who does what is right
and tries to be faithful to God?
If you can, the LORD will forgive Jerusalem.
2Even though you claim to worship the LORD,
you do not mean what you say.
3Surely the LORD looks for faithfulness.
He struck you, but you paid no attention;
he crushed you, but you refused to learn.
You were stubborn and would not turn from your sins.
4Then I thought, “These are only the poor and ignorant.
They behave foolishly;
they don't know what their God requires,
what the LORD wants them to do.
5I will go to the people in power,
and talk with them.
Surely they know what their God requires,
what the LORD wants them to do.”
But all of them have rejected the LORD's authority
and refuse to obey him.
6That is why lions from the forest will kill them;
wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces,
and leopards will prowl through their towns.
If those people go out, they will be torn apart
because their sins are numerous
and time after time they have turned from God.
7The LORD asked, “Why should I forgive the sins of my people?
They have abandoned me
and have worshipped gods that are not real.
I fed my people until they were full,
but they committed adultery
and spent their time with prostitutes.
8They were like well-fed stallions wild with desire,
each lusting for his neighbour's wife.
9Shouldn't I punish them for these things
and take revenge on a nation such as this?
10I will send enemies to cut down my people's vineyards,
but not to destroy them completely.
I will tell them to strip away the branches,
because those branches are not mine.
11The people of Israel and Judah
have betrayed me completely.
I, the LORD, have spoken.”
The LORD Rejects Israel
12The LORD's people have denied him and have said, “He won't really do anything.#5.12 He won't… anything; or We don't want anything to do with him. We won't have hard times; we won't have war or famine.” 13-14They have said that the prophets are nothing but windbags and that they have no message from the LORD. The LORD God Almighty said to me, “Jeremiah, because these people have said such things, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth. The people will be like wood, and the fire will burn them up.”
15People of Israel, the LORD is bringing a nation from afar to attack you. It is a strong and ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. 16Their bowmen are mighty soldiers who kill without mercy. 17They will devour your crops and your food; they will kill your sons and your daughters. They will slaughter your flocks and your herds and destroy your vines and fig trees. The fortified cities in which you trust will be destroyed by their army.
18The LORD says, “Yet even in those days I will not completely destroy my people. 19When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs.”
God Warns his People
20The LORD says, “Tell the descendants of Jacob, tell the people of Judah: 21#Is 6.9–10; Ezek 12.2; Mk 8.18Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear. 22#Job 38.8–11I am the LORD; why don't you fear me? Why don't you tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, a permanent boundary that it cannot cross. The sea may toss, but it cannot go beyond it; the waves may roar, but they cannot break through. 23But you people! You are stubborn and rebellious; you have turned aside and left me. 24You never thought to honour me, even though I send the autumn rains and the spring rains and give you the harvest season each year. 25Instead, your sins have kept these good things from you.
26“Evildoers live among my people; they lie in wait like those who spread nets to catch birds,#5.26 Probable text they… birds; Hebrew unclear. but they have set their traps to catch people. 27Just as a hunter fills a cage with birds, they have filled their houses with loot. That is why they are powerful and rich, 28why they are fat and well fed. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They do not give orphans their rights or show justice to the oppressed.
29“But I, the LORD, will punish them for these things; I will take revenge on this nation. 30A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31prophets speak nothing but lies; priests rule as the prophets command, and my people offer no objections. But what will they do when it all comes to an end?”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 5
5
The Justice of God’s Judgment
1“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
#Ezek. 22:30If you can find a man,
#Gen. 18:23–32If there is anyone who executes judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
#Gen. 18:26And I will pardon her.
2#Is. 48:1; Titus 1:16Though they say, ‘As #Jer. 4:2the Lord lives,’
Surely they #Jer. 7:9swear falsely.”
3O Lord, are not #2 Kin. 25:1; (2 Chr. 16:9; Jer. 16:17)Your eyes on the truth?
You have #Is. 1:5; 9:13; Jer. 2:30stricken them,
But they have not grieved;
You have consumed them,
But #Is. 9:13; Jer. 7:28; Zeph. 3:2they have refused to receive correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to return.
4Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.
They are foolish;
For #Is. 27:11; Jer. 8:7; Hos. 4:6they do not know the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.
5I will go to the great men and speak to them,
For #Mic. 3:1they have known the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.”
But these have altogether #Ex. 32:25; Ps. 2:3; Jer. 2:20broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
6Therefore #Jer. 4:7a lion from the forest shall slay them,
#Ps. 104:20; Ezek. 22:27; Hab. 1:8; Zeph. 3:3A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;
#Hos. 13:7A leopard will watch over their cities.
Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces,
Because their transgressions are many;
Their backslidings have increased.
7“How shall I pardon you for this?
Your children have forsaken Me
And #Josh. 23:7; Jer. 12:16; Zeph. 1:5sworn by those #Deut. 32:21; Jer. 2:11; Gal. 4:8that are not gods.
#Deut. 32:15When I had fed them to the full,
Then they committed adultery
And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
8#Jer. 13:27; 29:23; Ezek. 22:11They were like well-fed lusty stallions;
Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“And shall I not #Jer. 9:9avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10“Go up on her walls and destroy,
But do not make a #Jer. 4:27complete end.
Take away her branches,
For they are not the Lord’s.
11For #Jer. 3:6, 7, 20the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.
12#2 Chr. 36:16; Jer. 4:10They have lied about the Lord,
And said, #Is. 28:15; 47:8; Jer. 23:17“It is not He.
#Jer. 14:13Neither will evil come upon us,
Nor shall we see sword or famine.
13And the prophets become wind,
For the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them.”
14Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts:
“Because you speak this word,
#Is. 24:6; Jer. 1:9; 23:29; Hos. 6:5; Zech. 1:6Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,
And this people wood,
And it shall devour them.
15Behold, I will bring a #Deut. 28:49; Is. 5:26; Jer. 1:15; 6:22nation against you #Is. 39:3; Jer. 4:16from afar,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
“It is a mighty nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
16Their quiver is like an open tomb;
They are all mighty men.
17And they shall eat up your #Lev. 26:16; Deut. 28:31, 33; Jer. 8:16; 50:7, 17harvest 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;
They shall destroy your fortified cities,
In which you trust, with the sword.
18“Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I #Jer. 30:11; Amos 9:8will not make a complete end of you. 19And it will be when you say, #Deut. 29:24–29; 1 Kin. 9:8, 9; Jer. 13:22; 16:10–13‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have #Jer. 1:16; 2:13forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so #Deut. 28:48; Jer. 16:13you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’
20“Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21‘Hear this now, O #Is. 6:9; Jer. 6:10; Ezek. 12:2; Matt. 13:14; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Rom. 11:8foolish people,
Without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:
22#Deut. 28:58; Ps. 119:120; Jer. 2:19; 10:7; (Rev. 15:4)Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the #Job 26:10bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
23But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
24They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
#Ps. 147:8; Jer. 14:22; (Matt. 5:45); Acts 14:17Who gives rain, both the #Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23; James 5:7former and the latter, in its season.
#(Gen. 8:22)He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25#Jer. 3:3Your iniquities have turned these things away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26‘For among My people are found wicked men;
They #Ps. 10:9; Prov. 1:11; Jer. 18:22; Hab. 1:15lie in wait as one who sets snares;
They set a trap;
They catch men.
27As a cage is full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
28They have grown #Deut. 32:15fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead #Is. 1:23; Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Zech. 7:10the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
#Job 12:6; Ps. 73:12Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.
29#Jer. 5:9; Mal. 3:5Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
30“An astonishing and #Jer. 23:14; Hos. 6:10; 2 Tim. 4:3horrible thing
Has been committed in the land:
31The prophets prophesy #Jer. 14:14; Ezek. 13:6falsely,
And the priests rule by their own power;
And My people #Mic. 2:11love to have it so.
But what will you do in the end?
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.