Jeremiah 5

The Depravity of Jerusalem

1 Roam through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person,
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her.
2 When they say, "As the Lord lives,"
they are swearing falsely.

3 Lord, don't Your eyes [look for] faithfulness?
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.
They made their faces harder than rock,
and they refused to return.

4 Then I thought:

They are just the poor;
they have played the fool.
For they don't understand the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.

6 Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.
A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.
A leopard keeps watch over their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,
their unfaithful deeds numerous.

7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;
they gashed themselves at the prostitute's house.
8 They are well-fed, eager stallions,
each neighing after someone else's wife.

9 Should I not punish them for these things?
[This is] the Lord's declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

10 Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,
but do not finish them off.
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.
11 They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with Me.
[This is] the Lord's declaration.
12 They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, "It won't happen.
Harm won't come to us;
we won't see sword or famine."

13 The prophets become [only] wind,
for the [Lord's] word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.

Coming Judgment

14 Therefore, 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.
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.
15 I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,
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.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave;
they are all mighty warriors.

17 They will consume your harvest and your food.
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 in which you trust.
18 "But even in those days"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"I will not finish you off.

19 When 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 and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

20 "Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:

21 Hear this,
you foolish and senseless people.
They have eyes, but they don't see.
They have ears, but they don't hear.
22 Do 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?
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24 They have not said to themselves,
'Let's fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain, both early and late, in its season,
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.'
25 Your guilty acts have diverted these things [from you].
Your sins have withheld [My] bounty from you,
26 for wicked men live among My people.
They watch like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat 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.

29 Should I not punish them for these things?
[This is] the Lord's declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

30 A horrible, terrible thing
has taken place in the land.

31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it?

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