JeremiahChapter 5

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¹"Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and pay attention.
Search her public squares.
If you can find even one person
who does what is fair and looks for the truth,
then I will forgive the city. ²They say, 'As surely as the LORD lives.'
But even then their promises are lies." ³LORD, don't your eyes look for the truth?
You struck them, but they felt no pain.
You crushed them, but they would not accept correction.
They made their faces harder than stone.
They refused to turn back to you. ⁴Then I said, "These are only the poor.
They have acted like fools.
For they do not know the way of the LORD,
what their God requires. ⁵I will go to the important people
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the LORD,
what their God requires."
But all of them together had broken off the yoke
and torn off the chains too. ⁶So a lion from the forest will kill them.
A wolf from the desert will tear them apart.
A leopard will lie in wait near their cities.
Anyone who goes out will be torn to pieces.
For their rebellions are many,
and their unfaithful acts are many. ⁷"Why should I forgive you?
Your children have turned away from me.
They have made promises by gods that are not gods.
I gave them all they needed,
yet they committed adultery.
They crowded into the houses of prostitutes. ⁸They are like well-fed stallions full of lust.
Each one neighs for his neighbor's wife. ⁹Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" declares the LORD.
"Shouldn't I pay back a nation like this? ¹⁰Go through her vineyards and wreck them,
but do not destroy them completely.
Strip off her branches,
for they do not belong to the LORD. ¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been completely unfaithful to me," declares the LORD. ¹²They 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 famine. ¹³The prophets are nothing but wind,
for the word is not in them.
So let what they say happen to them!" ¹⁴So this is what the LORD God of Hosts says:
"Because you have spoken these words,
I will make my words in your mouth a fire.
These people will be the wood,
and the fire will burn them up. ¹⁵House of Israel, listen!
I am bringing a nation from far away against you," declares the LORD.
"It is a strong nation that has lasted a long time,
an ancient nation.
You do not know its language.
You will not understand what they say. ¹⁶Their quivers of arrows are like open graves.
All of them are mighty warriors. ¹⁷They will eat up your harvest and your food.
They will eat up your sons and daughters.
They will eat up your flocks and herds.
They will eat up your vines and fig trees.
With the sword they will destroy
the walled cities you trust in." ¹⁸"Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not destroy you completely. ¹⁹The people will ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' Then you are to tell them, 'You turned away from me and served foreign gods in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'" ²⁰Announce this to the house of Jacob.
Shout it out in Judah: ²¹"Hear this, you foolish people who have no sense.
You have eyes, but you do not see.
You have ears, but you do not hear. ²²Don't you fear me?" declares the LORD.
"Don't you tremble in front of me?
I put the sand as a border for the sea,
a lasting wall it cannot cross.
The waves rise up, but they cannot win.
They roar, but they cannot cross it. ²³But these people have stubborn hearts
that rebel against me.
They have turned aside and gone away. ²⁴They do not say to themselves,
'Let us fear the LORD our God.
He gives us rain in fall and spring, at the right times.
He makes sure we have the weeks set for harvest.' ²⁵Your sins have turned these things away from you.
Your wrongs have kept my good gifts from you. ²⁶For there are wicked men among my people.
They watch like hunters lying in wait for birds.
They set a trap to catch people. ²⁷Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of lies and cheating.
That is how they have become powerful and rich. ²⁸They have grown fat and sleek.
They have gone beyond the wicked in doing evil.
They do not stand up for the fatherless
so that they may do well.
They do not defend the rights of the poor. ²⁹Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" declares the LORD.
"Shouldn't I pay back a nation like this? ³⁰Something horrible and shocking
has happened in the land. ³¹The prophets speak lies.
The priests rule by their own power.
And my people love it this way.
But what will you do when the end comes?"