Jeremiah 5:1–6:30

The Justice of God’s Judgment

5 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;

See now and know;

And seek in her open places

aIf you can find a man,

bIf there is anyone who executes 1judgment,

Who seeks the truth,

cAnd I will pardon her.

2 dThough they say, ‘As ethe Lord lives,’

Surely they fswear falsely.”

3 O Lord, are not gYour eyes on the truth?

You have hstricken them,

But they have not grieved;

You have consumed them,

But ithey have refused to receive correction.

They have made their faces harder than rock;

They have refused to return.

4 Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.

They are foolish;

For jthey do not know the way of the Lord,

The judgment of their God.

5 I will go to the great men and speak to them,

For kthey have known the way of the Lord,

The judgment of their God.”

But these have altogether lbroken the yoke

And burst the bonds.

6 Therefore ma lion from the forest shall slay them,

nA wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;

oA leopard will watch over their cities.

Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces,

Because their transgressions are many;

Their backslidings have increased.

7 “How shall I pardon you for this?

Your children have forsaken Me

And psworn by those qthat are not gods.

rWhen I had fed them to the full,

Then they committed adultery

And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.

8 sThey were like well-fed lusty stallions;

Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

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

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

10 “Go up on her walls and destroy,

But do not 2make a ucomplete end.

Take away her branches,

For they are not the Lord’s.

11 For vthe house of Israel and the house of Judah

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

12 wThey have lied about the Lord,

And said, x“It is not He.

yNeither will 3evil 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,

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

And this people wood,

And it shall devour them.

15 Behold, I will bring a anation against you bfrom 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.

16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;

They are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up your charvest and your bread,

Which your sons and daughters should eat.

They shall eat up your flocks and your herds;

They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;

They shall destroy your fortified cities,

In which you trust, with the sword.

18 “Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I dwill not 4make a complete end of you. 19 And it will be when you say, e‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have fforsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so gyou shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’

20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob

And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21 ‘Hear this now, O hfoolish people,

Without 5understanding,

Who have eyes and see not,

And who have ears and hear not:

22 iDo you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.

‘Will you not tremble at My presence,

Who have placed the sand as the jbound of the sea,

By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?

And though its waves toss to and fro,

Yet they cannot prevail;

Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

23 But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;

They have revolted and departed.

24 They do not say in their heart,

“Let us now fear the Lord our God,

kWho gives rain, both the lformer and the latter, in its season.

mHe reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”

25 nYour iniquities have turned these things away,

And your sins have withheld good from you.

26 ‘For among My people are found wicked men;

They olie in wait as one who sets snares;

They set a trap;

They catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds,

So their houses are full of deceit.

Therefore they have become great and grown rich.

28 They have grown pfat, they are sleek;

Yes, they 6surpass the deeds of the wicked;

They do not plead qthe cause,

The cause of the fatherless;

rYet they prosper,

And the right of the needy they do not defend.

29 sShall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.

‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’

30 “An astonishing and thorrible thing

Has been committed in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy ufalsely,

And the priests rule by their own power;

And My people vlove to have it so.

But what will you do in the end?

Impending Destruction from the North

6 “O you children of Benjamin,

Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,

And set up a signal-fire in aBeth Haccerem;

bFor disaster appears out of the north,

And great destruction.

2 I have likened the daughter of Zion

To a lovely and delicate woman.

3 The cshepherds with their flocks shall come to her.

They shall pitch their tents against her all around.

Each one shall pasture in his own place.”

4 “Prepare dwar against her;

Arise, and let us go up eat noon.

Woe to us, for the day goes away,

For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.

5 Arise, and let us go by night,

And let us destroy her palaces.”

6 For thus has the Lord of hosts said:

“Cut down trees,

And build a mound against Jerusalem.

This is the city to be punished.

She is full of oppression in her midst.

7 fAs a fountain 1wells up with water,

So she wells up with her wickedness.

gViolence and plundering are heard in her.

Before Me continually are 2grief and wounds.

8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,

Lest hMy soul depart from you;

Lest I make you desolate,

A land not inhabited.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;

As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”

10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,

That they may hear?

Indeed their iear is uncircumcised,

And they cannot give heed.

Behold, jthe word of the Lord is a reproach to them;

They have no delight in it.

11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.

kI am weary of holding it in.

“I will pour it out lon the children outside,

And on the assembly of young men together;

For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,

The aged with him who is full of days.

12 And mtheir houses shall be turned over to others,

Fields and wives together;

For I will stretch out My hand

Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.

13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,

Everyone is given to ncovetousness;

And from the prophet even to the opriest,

Everyone deals falsely.

14 They have also phealed the 3hurt of My people 4slightly,

qSaying, ‘Peace, peace!’

When there is no peace.

15 Were they rashamed when they had committed abomination?

No! They were not at all ashamed;

Nor did they know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time I punish them,

They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

16 Thus says the Lord:

“Stand in the ways and see,

And ask for the sold paths, where the good way is,

And walk in it;

Then you will find trest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17 Also, I set uwatchmen over you, saying,

v‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ‘We will not listen.’

18 Therefore hear, you nations,

And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19 wHear, O earth!

Behold, I will certainly bring xcalamity on this people—

yThe fruit of their thoughts,

Because they have not heeded My words

Nor My law, but rejected it.

20 zFor what purpose to Me

Comes frankincense afrom Sheba,

And bsweet cane from a far country?

cYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,

Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

21 Therefore thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,

And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.

The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”

22 Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, a people comes from the dnorth country,

And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.

23 They will lay hold on bow and spear;

They are cruel and have no mercy;

Their voice eroars like the sea;

And they ride on horses,

As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”

24 We have heard the report of it;

Our hands grow feeble.

fAnguish has taken hold of us,

Pain as of a woman in 5labor.

25 Do not go out into the field,

Nor walk by the way.

Because of the sword of the enemy,

Fear is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people,

gDress in sackcloth

hAnd roll about in ashes!

iMake mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;

For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.

27 “I have set you as an assayer and ja fortress among My people,

That you may know and test their way.

28 kThey are all stubborn rebels, lwalking as slanderers.

They are mbronze and iron,

They are all corrupters;

29 The bellows blow fiercely,

The lead is consumed by the fire;

The smelter refines in vain,

For the wicked are not drawn off.

30 People will call them nrejected silver,

Because the Lord has rejected them.”