Jeremiah 5:9–15

9 Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?

10 “Go through her vineyards and ravage them,

but do not destroy them completely.

Strip off her branches,

for these people do not belong to the Lord.

11 The people of Israel and the people of Judah

have been utterly unfaithful to me,”

declares the Lord.

12 They have lied about the Lord;

they said, “He will do nothing!

No harm will come to us;

we will never see sword or famine.

13 The prophets are but wind

and the word is not in them;

so let what they say be done to them.”

14 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says:

“Because the people have spoken these words,

I will make my words in your mouth a fire

and these people the wood it consumes.

15 People of Israel,” declares the Lord,

“I am bringing a distant nation against you—

an ancient and enduring nation,

a people whose language you do not know,

whose speech you do not understand.

9 Shall I not punish them for these things?

declares the Lord;

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

10 “Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

but make not a full end;

strip away her branches,

for they are not the Lord’s.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

have been utterly treacherous to me,

declares the Lord.

12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord

and have said, ‘He will do nothing;

no disaster will come upon us,

nor shall we see sword or famine.

13 The prophets will become wind;

the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them!’ ”

14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:

“Because you have spoken this word,

behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire,

and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.

15 Behold, I am bringing against you

a nation from afar, O house of Israel,

declares the Lord.

It is an enduring nation;

it is an ancient nation,

a nation whose language you do not know,

nor can you understand what they say.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the Lord’s. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. 12 They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become wind, 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, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

9 Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

10 “Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines,

leaving a scattered few alive.

Strip the branches from the vines,

for these people do not belong to the Lord.

11 The people of Israel and Judah

are full of treachery against me,”

says the Lord.

12 “They have lied about the Lord

and said, ‘He won’t bother us!

No disasters will come upon us.

There will be no war or famine.

13 God’s prophets are all windbags

who don’t really speak for him.

Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’ ”

14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies says:

“Because the people are talking like this,

my messages will flame out of your mouth

and burn the people like kindling wood.

15 O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,”

says the Lord.

“It is a mighty nation,

an ancient nation,

a people whose language you do not know,

whose speech you cannot understand.

9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.

“And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

10 “Go up on her walls and destroy,

But do not make a complete end.

Take away her branches,

For they are not the Lord’s.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.

12 They have lied about the Lord,

And said, “It is not He.

Neither will evil come upon us,

Nor shall we see sword or famine.

13 And the prophets become wind,

For the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them.”

14 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts:

“Because you speak this word,

Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,

And this people wood,

And it shall devour them.

15 Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar,

O house of Israel,” says the Lord.

“It is a mighty nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,

Nor can you understand what they say.

9 Shouldn’t I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?” says the Lord.

“Shouldn’t I give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves?

10 “Go along and cut down Judah’s vineyards,

but do not completely destroy them.

Cut off all her people as if they were branches,

because they do not belong to the Lord.

11 The families of Israel and Judah

have been completely unfaithful to me,” says the Lord.

12 Those people have lied about the Lord

and said, “He will not do anything to us!

Nothing bad will happen to us!

We will never see war or hunger!

13 The prophets are like an empty wind;

the word of God is not in them.

Let the bad things they say happen to them.”

14 So this is what the Lord God All-Powerful says:

“The people said I would not punish them.

So, the words I give you will be like fire,

and these people will be like wood that it burns up.

15 Listen, family of Israel,” says the Lord,

“I will soon bring a nation from far away to attack you.

It is an old nation that has lasted a long time.

The people there speak a language you do not know;

you cannot understand what they say.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Jehovah’s. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah. 12 They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

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 away 

to 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. 

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.

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.

9 Shall I not punish them for these things?

says the Lord,

and shall I not bring retribution

on a nation such as this?

10 Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

but do not make a full end;

strip away her branches,

for they are not the Lord’s.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

have been utterly faithless to me,

says the Lord.

12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord

and have said, “He will do nothing.

No evil will come upon us,

and we shall not see sword or famine.”

13 The prophets are nothing but wind,

for the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them!

14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:

Because you have spoken this word,

I am now making my words in your mouth a fire

and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.

15 I am going to bring upon you

a nation from far away, O house of Israel,

says the Lord.

It is an enduring nation;

it is an ancient nation,

a nation whose language you do not know,

nor can you understand what they say.

9 Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares Yahweh,

“and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?

10 Go up through her vineyards and destroy,

but you must not make complete destruction.

Remove her branches,

for they are not to Yahweh.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

have dealt utterly treacherously with me,” declares Yahweh.

12 “They have denied Yahweh, and have said,

‘Not he, for evil will not come on us,

we will see neither sword nor famine.

13 And the prophets are like wind,

and the word is not in them.’

Thus it will be done to them.”

14 Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,

“Because you have spoken this word,

look, I am making my words in your mouth like a fire,

and this people wood, and it will devour them.

15 Look, I am about to bring on you a nation from afar,

O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.

“It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation.

A nation whose language you do not know,

and you cannot understand what they speak.

9 Shouldn’t I punish them for that?”

announces the Lord.

“Shouldn’t I pay back the nation

that does those things?

10 “Armies of Babylonia, go through their vineyards and destroy them.

But do not destroy them completely.

Strip off their branches.

Those people do not belong to me.

11 The people of Israel and Judah

have not been faithful to me at all,”

announces the Lord.

12 They have told lies about the Lord.

They said, “He won’t do anything!

No harm will come to us.

We will never see war or be hungry.

13 The prophets are nothing but wind.

Their message doesn’t come from the Lord.

So let what they say will happen be done to them.”

14 The Lord God rules over all. He says to me,

“The people have spoken those words.

So my words will be like fire in your mouth.

I will make the people like wood.

And the fire will burn them up.”

15 “People of Israel, listen to me,”

announces the Lord.

“I am bringing against you

a nation from far away.

It is an old nation. And it will last for a long time.

Its people speak a language you do not know.

You can’t understand what they are saying.

9 “Shall I not punish these people,” declares the Lord,

“And on a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?

10 “Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

But do not execute a complete destruction;

Strip away her branches,

For they are not the Lord’s.

11 “For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.

12 They have lied about the Lord

And said, “Not He;

Misfortune will not come on us,

And we will not see sword or famine.

13 “The prophets are as wind,

And the word is not in them.

Thus it will be done to them!”

14 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,

“Because you have spoken this word,

Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire

And this people wood, and it will consume them.

15 “Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord.

“It is an enduring nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,

Nor can you understand what they say.