Jeremiah 5
5
Judah’s Complete Rejection of the LORD
1Walk around the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around, and think about these things.
Search the city squares.
See if you can find anyone
who does what is right and seeks the truth.
Then I will forgive Jerusalem.
2People say, “As the Lord lives …”
Yet, they lie when they take this oath.
3 Lord, your eyes look for the truth.
You strike these people, but they don’t feel it.
You crush them, but they refuse to be corrected.
They are more stubborn than rocks.
They refuse to turn back.
4I thought, “These are poor, foolish people.
They don’t know the way of the Lord
and the justice that God demands.
5Let me go to important people and speak to them.
They know the way of the Lord
and the justice that God demands.”
But they, too, had broken off their yokes #5:5 A yoke is a wooden bar placed over the necks of work animals so that they can pull plows or carts.
and torn off their chains.
6That is why a lion from the forest will attack them.
A wolf from the wilderness will destroy them.
A leopard will lie in ambush outside their cities.
All who leave the cities will be torn to pieces,
because they rebel so often
and they become more and more unfaithful.
7“Why should I forgive you?
Your children abandoned me.
They took godless oaths.
They committed adultery, even though I satisfied their needs.
They traveled in crowds to the houses of prostitutes.
8They are like well-fed stallions that are wild with desire.
They neigh for their neighbors’ wives.
9I will punish them for these things,” declares the Lord.
“I will punish this nation.
10“Go among Jerusalem’s rows of grapevines and destroy them,
but don’t destroy all of them.
Cut off the branches because they don’t belong to the Lord.
11The nations of Israel and Judah are unfaithful to me,”
declares the Lord.
12They lie about the Lord and say,
“He doesn’t exist!
Nothing bad will happen to us.
We won’t experience war or famine.
13The prophets are nothing but windbags.
The Lord hasn’t spoken through them,
so let what they say happen to them.”
14This is what the Lord God of Armies says:
Because you’ve talked like this,
I’m going to put my words in your mouth like a fire.
These people will be like wood.
My words will burn them up.
15Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far away
to attack you, declares the Lord.
It is a nation that has lasted a long time.
It is an ancient nation.
You don’t know the language of this nation.
You can’t understand what its people say.
16Their arrow quivers are like open graves.
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 cattle.
They will devour your grapevines and your fig trees.
With their swords they will destroy
the fortified cities you trust.
18Yet, even in those days, declares the Lord,
I won’t destroy all of you.
19They will ask, “Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?” Answer them, “You have abandoned me and served foreign gods in your land. So you will serve foreigners in a land that isn’t yours.”
20“Tell this to the descendants of Jacob, and make this heard in Judah:
21Hear this, you stupid and senseless people!
You have eyes, but you cannot see.
You have ears, but you cannot hear.
22Don’t you fear me?” asks the Lord.
“Don’t you tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it cannot cross.
Although the waves toss continuously, they can’t break through.
Although they roar, they can’t cross it.
23But these people are stubborn and rebellious.
They have turned aside and wandered away from me.
24They don’t say to themselves,
‘We should fear the Lord our God.
He sends rain at the right time,
the autumn rain and the spring rain.
He makes sure that we have harvest seasons.’
25Your wickedness has turned these things away.
Your sins have kept good things away from you.
26“Wicked people are found among my people.
They lie in ambush like bird catchers.
They set traps and catch people.
27Like cages filled with birds, their houses are filled with deceit.
That is why they become powerful and rich.
28They grow big and fat.
Their evil deeds have no limits.
They have no respect for the rights of others.
They have no respect for the rights of orphans.
But they still prosper.
They don’t defend the rights of the poor.
29I will punish them for these things,” declares the Lord.
“I will punish this nation.
30“Something horrible and disgusting is happening in the land:
31Prophets prophesy lies.
Priests rule under the prophets’ directions,
and my people love this.
But what will you do in the end?”
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Jeremiah 5: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 5
5
1Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her. 2And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
4Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God: 5I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
7How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots’ houses; 8they were as fed horses roaming at large; every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife. 9Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Jehovah’s. 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah. 12They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
14Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 16Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. 18But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.
19And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not: 22Fear ye not me? saith Jehovah: will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. 23But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you. 26For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. 27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich. 28They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land: 31the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
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