Jeremiah 5
5
Universal Corruption
1Roam the streets of Jerusalem,
look about and observe,
Search through her squares,
to find even one
Who acts justly
and seeks honesty,
and I will pardon her!
2They say, “As the Lord lives,”
but in fact they swear falsely.
3Lord, do your eyes not search for honesty?
You struck them, but they did not flinch;
you laid them low, but they refused correction;
They set their faces harder than stone,
and refused to return.#Jer 2:30.
4I thought: These are only the lowly,
they behave foolishly;
For they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.#Jer 8:7.
5Let me go to the leaders
and speak with them;
For they must know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
But, one and all, they have broken the yoke,
torn off the harness.#Jer 6:13.
6Therefore, lions from the forest slay them,
wolves of the desert ravage them,
Leopards keep watch round their cities:
all who come out are torn to pieces,
For their crimes are many,
their rebellions numerous.
7Why should I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me,
they swear by gods that are no gods.
I fed them, but they commit adultery;
to the prostitute’s house they throng.
8They are lustful stallions,
each neighs after the other’s wife.#Jer 13:27.
9Should I not punish them for this?—oracle of the Lord;
on a nation like this should I not take vengeance?
10Climb her terraces, and ravage them,
destroy them completely.
Tear away her tendrils,
they do not belong to the Lord.#Jer 2:21.
11For they have openly rebelled against me,
both the house of Israel and the house of Judah—
oracle of the Lord.#Jer 3:20.
12They denied the Lord,#They denied the Lord: the people act as though God does not matter and will not interfere.
saying, “He is nothing,
No evil shall come to us,
neither sword nor famine shall we see.#Jer 14:13; Is 28:15.
13The prophets are wind,
and the word is not with them.
Let it be done to them!”
14Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,
because you have said this—
See! I make my words
a fire in your mouth,
And this people the wood
that it shall devour!—
15Beware! I will bring against you
a nation from far away,
O House of Israel—oracle of the Lord;
A long-lived nation, an ancient nation,
a people whose language you do not know,
whose speech you cannot understand.#Dt 28:49.
16Their quivers are like open graves;
all of them are warriors.
17They will devour your harvest and your bread,
devour your sons and your daughters,
Devour your sheep and cattle,
devour your vines and fig trees;
With their swords they will beat down
the fortified cities in which you trust.#Dt 28:31.
18Yet even in those days—oracle of the Lord—I will not completely destroy you.#Jer 4:27. 19And when they ask, “Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?” say to them, “As you have abandoned me to serve foreign gods in your own land, so shall you serve foreigners in a land not your own.”
20Announce this to the house of Jacob,
proclaim it in Judah:
21Pay attention to this,
you foolish and senseless people,
Who have eyes and do not see,
who have ears and do not hear.#Is 6:9.
22Should you not fear me—oracle of the Lord—
should you not tremble before me?
I made the sandy shore the sea’s limit,
which by eternal decree it may not overstep.
Toss though it may, it is to no avail;
though its billows roar, they cannot overstep.#Jb 38:10–11.
23But this people’s heart is stubborn and rebellious;
they turn and go away,
24And do not say in their hearts,
“Let us fear the Lord, our God,
Who gives us rain
early and late,#Rain early and late: autumn and spring rains respectively. Appointed weeks of harvest: the seven weeks between the Passover (Dt 16:9–10) and the feast of Weeks (Pentecost), when it did not ordinarily rain. in its time;
Who watches for us
over the appointed weeks of harvest.”#Gn 8:22; Dt 11:14.
25Your crimes have prevented these things,
your sins have turned these blessings away from you.#Jer 2:17, 19.
26For criminals lurk among my people;
like fowlers they set traps,
but it is human beings they catch.#Prv 1:11.
27Their houses are as full of treachery
as a bird-cage is of birds;
Therefore they grow powerful and rich,
28fat and sleek.
They pass over wicked deeds;
justice they do not defend
By advancing the claim of the orphan
or judging the cause of the poor.#Jer 12:1; Is 1:23.
29Shall I not punish these things?—oracle of the Lord;
on a nation such as this shall I not take vengeance?
30Something shocking and horrible
has happened in the land:
31The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests teach on their own authority;
Yet my people like it this way;
what will you do when the end comes?#Jer 14:14; Mi 2:11.
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Jeremiah 5: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Jeremiah 5
5
The Depravity of Jerusalem
1Roam # 2Ch 16:9 through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person, # Ps 14:1-3; Ezk 22:30; Rm 3:10
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her. # Gn 18:26-32
2When they say, “As the Lord lives,” # Jr 4:2
they are swearing falsely. # Lv 19:12; Is 48:1; Jr 7:9
3Lord, don’t Your eyes look for faithfulness? # 2Ch 16:9; Ps 51:6
You have struck them, but they felt no pain. # Pr 23:35
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline. # Pr 27:22
They made their faces harder than rock, # Ezk 3:7-9
and they refused to return. # Hs 11:5
4Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have played the fool.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord, # Gn 18:19; 2Kg 17:26; 21:22; Ps 95:10; Jr 8:7; Hs 4:6
the justice of their God. # Mc 3:1
5I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God. # Ps 103:7
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains. # Ps 2:3; Jr 2:20
6Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down. # 2Kg 17:26; Jr 4:7; 25:38
A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.
A leopard # Hs 13:7; Rv 13:2 keeps watch over their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many, # Is 59:12
their unfaithful deeds numerous. # Jr 3:6,8,11-12,22; 14:7; 30:15; Am 5:12
7Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods. # Dt 32:21; Jos 23:7; Gl 4:8
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; # Hs 4:10
they gashed themselves # 1Kg 18:24 at the # Or adultery and trooped to the, or adultery and lodged at the ; Hb obscure prostitute’s house.
8They are well-fed, # Lit well-equipped ; Hb obscure eager # Lit early-rising ; Hb obscure stallions, # Ezk 23:20
each neighing # Jr 13:27 after someone else’s wife. # Ex 20:14; Ezk 22:11
9Should I not punish them for these things? # Jr 5:29; 8:10; 9:9
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself # Dt 32:35; Heb 10:30
on such a nation as this?
10Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them, # 2Kg 24:2
but do not finish them off. # Jr 4:27
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord. # Hs 1:9
11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with Me. # Is 21:2; 24:16; 48:8; Hs 6:7
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, “It won’t happen. # Lit He does not exist # Is 28:15; Jr 23:17
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make My words
become fire in your mouth. # Hs 6:5; Rv 11:5
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them. # Zch 12:6
15I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you, # Is 10:3; 13:5; 30:27; Jr 4:16
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand. # Dt 28:49; Is 28:11; 33:19; 1Co 14:21
16Their quiver is like an open grave; # Ps 5:9; Rm 3:13
they are all mighty warriors.
17They will consume your harvest and your food. # Lv 26:16; Dt 28:31,33,51
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
They will destroy with the sword
your fortified cities # Hs 8:14 in which you trust.
18“But even in those days” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “I will not finish you off. # 2Ch 12:12; Jr 4:27; 5:10; 30:11; Ezk 11:13; 20:17; Rm 11:1-5 19When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us? ’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me # Dt 28:20; 29:24-25; 31:16; Jdg 2:12; 1Sm 8:8; 1Kg 9:8-9; Is 1:4,28; Jr 1:16; 2:13,17,19; 16:11; 17:13 and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours. # Dt 4:27-28; 28:47-48
20“Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21Hear this,
you foolish and senseless # Lit without heart people. # Dt 32:6
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear. # Ps 115:5-6; 135:16-17; Is 6:9; 42:20; Ezk 12:2; Mt 13:14; Mk 8:18
22Do you not fear Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before Me,
the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross? # Jb 26:10; 38:10-11; Ps 104:9; Pr 8:29
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. # Dt 21:18,20; Ps 78:8; Is 1:5; Heb 3:12
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God, # Pr 9:10; Hs 6:1
who gives the rain, # Mt 5:45 both early and late, # Jl 2:23 in its season, # Dt 11:14
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld My bounty from you, # Is 59:2
26for wicked men live among My people.
They watch like fowlers lying in wait. # Hb obscure # Pr 1:11
They set a trap; # Ps 10:9
they catch men.
27Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit. # Ps 10:7; 50:19; Is 3:14; 5:18; 30:12; Jr 8:5; Zph 1:9; Ac 13:10; Rm 1:29
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28They have become fat # Dt 32:15 and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy. # Deut 24:14; Jb 29:16; 30:25; 31:19; Ps 82:3-4; 140:12; Pr 14:31; 31:9; Is 1:23; Zch 7:10; Ac 4:34
29Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself # Jr 5:9; 8:19; Heb 10:30
on such a nation as this?
30A horrible, terrible thing
has taken place in the land. # Hs 6:10
31The prophets prophesy falsely, # Jr 6:13; 8:10; 14:14; 20:6; 23:14,25,26,32; 27:10,14-16; 28:15; 29:9,21,31; Lm 2:14; Zch 13:3
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it? # Dt 32:29; Is 10:3
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