Jeremiah 5

Judah’s Complete Rejection of the Lord

1 Walk around the streets of Jerusalem.Look around, and think about these things.Search the city squares.See if you can find anyonewho does what is right and seeks the truth.Then I will forgive Jerusalem.2 People 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.4 I thought, “These are poor, foolish people.They don’t know the way of the Lordand the justice that God demands.5 Let me go to important people and speak to them.They know the way of the Lordand the justice that God demands.”But they, too, had broken off their yokestand torn off their chains.6 That 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 oftenand 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.8 They are like well-fed stallions that are wild with desire.They neigh for their neighbors’ wives.9 I 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.11 The nations of Israel and Judah are unfaithful to me,”declares the Lord.12 They lie about the Lord and say,“He doesn’t exist!Nothing bad will happen to us.We won’t experience war or famine.13 The prophets are nothing but windbags.The Lord hasn’t spoken through them,so let what they say happen to them.”14 This 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.15 Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far awayto 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.16 Their arrow quivers are like open graves.They are all mighty warriors.17 They 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 destroythe fortified cities you trust.18 Yet, even in those days, declares the Lord,I won’t destroy all of you.19 They 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:21 Hear this, you stupid and senseless people!You have eyes, but you cannot see.You have ears, but you cannot hear.22 Don’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.23 But these people are stubborn and rebellious.They have turned aside and wandered away from me.24 They 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.’25 Your 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.27 Like cages filled with birds, their houses are filled with deceit.That is why they become powerful and rich.28 They 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.29 I will punish them for these things,” declares the LORD.“I will punish this nation.30 “Something horrible and disgusting is happening in the land:31 Prophets prophesy lies.Priests rule under the prophets’ directions,and my people love this.But what will you do in the end?”

Jeremiah 5

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

1 The Lord said,t
“Go up and downt through the streets of Jerusalem.s
Look around and see for yourselves.
Search through its public squares.
See if any of you can find a single person
who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.t
If you can,t then I will not punish this city.t

2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord.t
But the fact is,st what they swear to is really a lie.”t

3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness.t
But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.t
Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.
They have become as hardheaded as a rock.t
They refuse to change their ways.t

4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.t
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.t
They do not know what their God requires of them.t

5 I will go to the leaderst
and speak with them.
Surely they know what the Lord demands.t
Surely they know what their God requires of them.”t
Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority
and refuse to submit to him.t

6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.
Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.
Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities
and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.t
For they have rebelled so much
and done so many unfaithful things.t

7 The Lord asked,t
“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem?t
Your peoplet have rejected me
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all.t
Even though I supplied all their needs,t they were like an unfaithful wife to me.t
They went flockingt to the houses of prostitutes.ts

8 They are like lusty, well-fedt stallions.
Each of them lusts aftert his neighbor’s wife.

9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”t

10 The Lord commanded the enemy,t
“March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them.t
But do not destroy them completely.
Strip off their branches
for these people do not belong to the Lord.t

11 For the nations of Israel and Judaht
have been very unfaithful to me,”
says the Lord.

12 “These people have denied what the Lord says.t
They have said, ‘That is not so!t
No harm will come to us.
We will not experience war and famine.t

13 The prophets will prove to be full of wind.ts
The Lord has not spoken through them.s
So, let what they say happen to them.’”

14 Because of that,t the Lord, the God who rules over all,ts said to me,t
“Because these people have spokent like this,t
I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.
And I will make this people like wood
which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.”t

15 The Lord says,t “Listen,t nation of Israel!t
I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.
It will be a nation that was founded long ago
and has lasted for a long time.
It will be a nation whose language you will not know.
Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty.t
Their arrows will send you to your grave.t

17 They will eat up your crops and your food.
They will kill offt your sons and your daughters.
They will eat up your sheep and your cattle.
They will destroy your vines and your fig trees.ts
Their weapons will batter downt
the fortified cities you trust in.
18 Yet even thent I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord.

19 “So then, Jeremiah,t when your peoplet ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ tell them, ‘It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. Sot you must serve foreignerss in a land that does not belong to you.’

20 “Proclaims this message among the descendants of Jacob.t
Make it known throughout Judah.

21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,
you foolish people who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not discern,
who have ears but do not perceive:t

22 “You should fear me!” says the Lord.
“You should tremble in awe before me!t
I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it can never cross.
Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.
They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.”t

23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and gone their own way.t

24 They do not say to themselves,t
“Let us revere the Lord our God.
It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.
It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.”t

25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming.t
Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’t

26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.
They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush.t
They set deadly trapst to catch people.

27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught,t
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit.t
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.t

28 That is howt they have grown fat and sleek.t
There is no limit to the evil things they do.ts
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.

29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!ts

30 “Something horrible and shocking
is going on in the land of Judah:

31 The prophets prophesy lies.
The priests exercise power by their own authority.t
And my people love to have it this way.
But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!t