Jeremías 5
1 DISCURRID por las plazas de Jerusalem, y mirad ahora, y sabed, y buscad en sus plazas si halláis hombre, si hay alguno que haga juicio, que busque verdad; y yo la perdonaré.2 Y si dijeren: Vive Jehová; por tanto jurarán mentira.3 Oh Jehová, ¿no miran tus ojos á la verdad? Azotástelos, y no les dolió; consumístelos, y no quisieron recibir corrección; endurecieron sus rostros más que la piedra, no quisieron tornarse.4 Yo empero dije: Por cierto ellos son pobres, enloquecido han, pues no conocen el camino de Jehová, el juicio de su Dios.5 Irme he á los grandes, y hablaréles; porque ellos conocen el camino de Jehová, el juicio de su Dios. Ciertamente ellos también quebraron el yugo, rompieron las coyundas.6 Por tanto, león del monte los herirá, destruirálos lobo del desierto, tigre acechará sobre sus ciudades; cualquiera que de ellas saliere, será arrebatado: porque sus rebeliones se han multiplicado, hanse aumentado sus deslealtades.7 ¿Cómo te he de perdonar por esto? Sus hijos me dejaron, y juraron por lo que no es Dios. Saciélos, y adulteraron, y en casa de ramera se juntaron en compañías.8 Como caballos bien hartos fueron á la mañana, cada cual relinchaba á la mujer de su prójimo.9 ¿No había de hacer visitación sobre esto? dijo Jehová. De una gente como ésta ¿no se había de vengar mi alma?
10 Escalad sus muros, y destruid; mas no hagáis consumación: quitad las almenas de sus muros, porque no son de Jehová.
11 Porque resueltamente se rebelaron contra mí la casa de Israel y la casa de Judá, dice Jehová.
12 Negaron á Jehová, y dijeron: El no es, y no vendrá mal sobre nosotros, ni veremos cuchillo ni hambre;
13 Antes los profetas serán como viento, y no hay en ellos palabra; así se hará á ellos.
14 Por tanto, así ha dicho Jehová Dios de los ejércitos: Porque hablasteis esta palabra, he aquí yo pongo en tu boca mis palabras por fuego, y á este pueblo por leños, y los consumirá.
15 He aquí yo traigo sobre vosotros gente de lejos, oh casa de Israel, dice Jehová; gente robusta, gente antigua, gente cuya lengua ignorarás, y no entenderás lo que hablare.
16 Su aljaba como sepulcro abierto, todos valientes.
17 Y comerá tu mies y tu pan, que habían de comer tus hijos y tus hijas; comerá tus ovejas y tus vacas, comerá tus viñas y tus higueras; y tus ciudades fuertes en que tú confías, tornará en nada á cuchillo.
18 Empero en aquellos días, dice Jehová, no os acabaré del todo.
19 Y será que cuando dijereis: ¿Por qué hizo Jehová el Dios nuestro con nosotros todas estas cosas? entonces les dirás: De la manera que me dejasteis á mí, y servisteis á dioses ajenos en vuestra tierra así serviréis á extraños en tierra ajena.
20 Denunciad esto en la casa de Jacob, y haced que esto se oiga en Judá, diciendo:
21 Oid ahora esto, pueblo necio y sin corazón, que tienen ojos y no ven, que tienen oídos y no oyen:
22 ¿A mí no temeréis? dice Jehová; ¿no os amedrentaréis á mi presencia, que al mar por ordenación eterna, la cual no quebrantará, puse arena por término? Se levantarán tempestades, mas no prevalecerán; bramarán sus ondas, mas no lo pasarán.
23 Empero este pueblo tiene corazón falso y rebelde; tornáronse y fuéronse.
24 Y no dijeron en su corazón: Temamos ahora á Jehová Dios nuestro, que da lluvia temprana y tardía en su tiempo; los tiempos establecidos de la siega nos guarda.
25 Vuestras iniquidades han estorbado estas cosas; y vuestros pecados apartaron de vosotros el bien.
26 Porque fueron hallados en mi pueblo impíos; acechaban como quien pone lazos; pusieron trampa para tomar hombres.
27 Como jaula llena de pájaros, así están sus casas llenas de engaño: así se hicieron grandes y ricos.
28 Engordaron y pusiéronse lustrosos, y sobrepujaron los hechos del malo: no juzgaron la causa, la causa del huérfano; con todo hiciéronse prósperos, y la causa de los pobres no juzgaron.
29 ¿No tengo de visitar sobre esto? dice Jehová; ¿y de tal gente no se vengará mi alma?
30 Cosa espantosa y fea es hecha en la tierra:
31 Los profetas profetizaron mentira, y los sacerdotes dirigían por manos de ellos; y mi pueblo así lo quiso. ¿Qué pues haréis á su fin?
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