Jeremiah 5

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.

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

Surely they ^fswear falsely.”

³O 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.

⁴Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.

They are foolish;

For ^jthey do not know the way of the Lord,

The judgment of their God.

⁵I 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.

⁶Therefore ^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.

^8sThey were like well-fed lusty stallions;

Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

⁹Shall 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.

¹¹For ^vthe house of Israel and the house of Judah

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

^12wThey 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.

¹³And the prophets become wind,

For the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them.”

¹⁴Therefore 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.

¹⁵Behold, 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.

¹⁶Their quiver is like an open tomb;

They are all mighty men.

¹⁷And 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. ¹⁹And 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:

²²ⁱDo 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.

²³But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;

They have revolted and departed.

²⁴They 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.”

²⁵ⁿYour 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.

²⁷As a cage is full of birds,

So their houses are full of deceit.

Therefore they have become great and grown rich.

²⁸They 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.

^29sShall 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:

³¹The 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?