Jeremiah 5:15–31

15 Lo, I will bring qa nation upon you rfrom far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is sa mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, qa nation whose language thou knowest not, tneither understandest what they say. 16 uTheir quiver is as van open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17 And wthey shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy xfenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I hwill not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, yWherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as zye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so ashall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O bcfoolish people, and without †dunderstanding; cwhich have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 ddFear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the ebound of the sea by a perpetual eedecree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof ftoss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though ffthey roar, yet can they not pass over it? 23 But this people hath ga revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, ggthat giveth rain, both hthe former and ithe latter, in his season: khe reserveth unto us lthe appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away mthese things, and your sins have withholden mgood things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: ||nthey lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a ||cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 oThey are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: pthey judge not the cause, the cause of pthe fatherless, qyet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 rShall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 ||A wonderful and shorrible thing is committed in the land; 31 tThe prophets prophesy ufalsely, and the priests ||bear rule vby their means; and wmy people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?