Jeremiah 5:1–14

aRun ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and bseek in the broad places thereof, cif ye can find a man, dif there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; eand I will pardon it. 2 And fthough they say, gThe Lord liveth; hsurely ithey swear falsely. 3 O Lord, are not kthine eyes upon the truth? thou hast lmstricken them, but they have not mgrieved; thou hast consumed them, but nthey have refused to receive correction: othey have made their faces harder than a rock; oothey have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; pthey are foolish: for qthey know not the way of the Lord, nor qthe judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for qthey have known the way of the Lord, and qthe judgment of their God: but rthese have altogether broken the yoke, and rrburst the bonds. 6 Wherefore sa lion tout of the forest shall slay them, and ua wolf of the ||evenings shall spoil them, va leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their wbackslidings †xare increased. 7 yHow shall I pardon thee for this? yythy children have forsaken me, and zsworn by athem that are no gods: bwhen I had fed them to the full, bbthey then committed adultery, and cassembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. 8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one dneighed eafter his neighbour’s wife. 9 fShall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 gGo ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but hmake not a full end: take away her ibattlements; for they are not the Lord’s. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah khave dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. 12 lThey have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; mneither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become nwind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, oI will make my words in thy mouth pfire, and this people pwood, and it shall devour them.