Jeremiah 5:1-19

New King James Version

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
^(A)If you can find a man,
^(B)If there is anyone who executes ^[a]judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
^(C)And I will pardon her.
²^(D)Though they say, ‘As ^(E)the Lord lives,’
Surely they ^(F)swear falsely.”

³O Lord, are not ^(G)Your eyes on the truth?
You have ^(H)stricken them,
But they have not grieved;
You have consumed them,
But ^(I)they 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 ^(J)they 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 ^(K)they have known the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.”

But these have altogether ^(L)broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
⁶Therefore ^(M)a lion from the forest shall slay them,
^(N)A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;
^(O)A 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 ^(P)sworn by those ^(Q)that are not gods.
^(R)When I had fed them to the full,
Then they committed adultery
And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
⁸^(S)They 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 ^(T)avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

¹⁰“Go up on her walls and destroy,
But do not ^[b]make a ^(U)complete end.
Take away her branches,
For they are not the Lord’s.
¹¹For ^(V)the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.

¹²^(W)They have lied about the Lord,
And said, ^(X)“It is not He.
^(Y)Neither will ^[c]evil 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,
^(Z)Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,
And this people wood,
And it shall devour them.
¹⁵Behold, I will bring a ^(AA)nation against you ^(AB)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.
¹⁶Their quiver is like an open tomb;
They are all mighty men.
¹⁷And they shall eat up your ^(AC)harvest 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 ^(AD)will not ^[d]make a complete end of you. ¹⁹And it will be when you say, ^(AE)‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have ^(AF)forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so ^(AG)you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’