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
1 "Travel the streets of Jerusalem; and gaze, and consider, and seek, in its wide streets. If you can find a man exercising judgment and seeking faith, then I will be forgiving to them.
2 For even though they say, 'As the Lord lives,' in this, too, they swear falsely."
3 O Lord, your eyes look with favor upon faith. You have struck them, and they have not grieved. You have bruised them, and they have refused to accept discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, and they are not willing to return.
4 But I said: Perhaps these are the poor and the senseless, who are ignorant of the way of the Lord, of the judgment of their God.
5 Therefore, I will go to great men, and I will speak with them. For they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. And behold, these ones have broken the yoke all the more; they have torn apart the bonds.
6 For this reason, a lion from the forest has struck them down, a wolf toward evening has laid waste to them, a leopard lies in wait over their cities. All who go out from there will be taken. For their transgressions have been multiplied; their rebellions have been strengthened.
7 "Over which things am I able to be merciful to you? Your sons have forsaken me, and they swear by those who are not gods. I gave them everything, and they committed adultery, and they indulged themselves in the house of the harlot.
8 They have become like wild horses in heat; each one was neighing after his neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation such as this?
10 Scale its walls and tear them down. But do not be willing to bring about its very end. Take away its plantings, for they are not the Lord's.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.
12 They have denied the Lord, and they have said, 'It is not him,' and, 'Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see famine and the sword.'
13 The prophets have spoken into the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore, these things will happen to them."
14 Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: "Since you have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth like fire and this people like wood, and it will devour them.
15 Behold, O house of Israel, I will lead over you a far away nation, says the Lord, a robust nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not know, nor will you understand what they are saying.
16 Their quiver is like an open sepulcher. They are all strong.
17 And they will consume your grain fields and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vineyards and your figs. And with the sword, they will crush your fortified cities, in which you have placed your trust.
18 Yet truly, in those days, says the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.
19 And if they say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' You shall say to them: 'Just as you have abandoned me and have served a strange god in your own land, so will you serve strangers in a land not your own.'
20 Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it known in Judah, saying:
21 Listen, O foolish people who have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears, but you do not hear.
22 So then, will you not fear me, says the Lord. And will you not have sorrow before my face? I have placed the shore as a limit for the sea, as an everlasting precept that it will not transgress. And its waves will crash, but they will not prevail; and its waves will swell, but they will not go across.
23 But the heart of this people has become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away and departed.
24 And they have not said in their heart: 'Let us dread the Lord our God, who gives us the timely and the late rains, in their proper time, who guards the full measure of the yearly harvest for us.'
25 Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back good things from you.
26 For the impious are found among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting snares, for they set traps to catch men.
27 Just as a snare is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result, they have become exalted and enriched.
28 They have grown stout and fat. And they have transgressed my words most wickedly. They have not judged the case of the widow; they have not given guidance to the case of the orphan; and they have not judged a judgment for the poor.
29 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?
30 Astonishing and wondrous things have been done upon the earth.
31 The prophets have prophesied lies, and the priests have applauded with their hands, and my people have loved these things. So then, what shall be done at the very end?"
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