Jeremiah 5
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Dialogue About Jerusalem’s Sin
The Lord[a]
5 Hurry here and there through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note.
Search her public squares.
See if you can find just one person who deals justly
and who seeks to be faithful.
If you can, I will forgive her.
2 Though they say, “As surely as the Lord lives,”
they are still swearing falsely.
The Prophet
3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness?
You struck them,
but they felt no pain.
You crushed them,
but they refused discipline.
They made their faces harder than rock
and refused to repent.
4 Then I said:
These are only the poor.
They are foolish,
because they do not know the way of the Lord
and the just verdict of their God.
5 I will go to the great men and speak to them.
Certainly they know the way of the Lord,
the just verdict of their God.
But all of them together have broken the yoke
and have torn off their chains.
6 That is why a lion from the forest will strike them.
A wolf from the desert will attack them,
and a leopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who comes out of them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellions are so many,
and their unfaithfulness is so great.
The Lord
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
and sworn by gods that are not gods.
I satisfied their needs,
yet they committed adultery
and crowded into prostitutes’ houses.
8 They are well-fed, lusty[b] stallions,
each one neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9 Should I not punish them for this? declares the Lord.
Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this one?
10 Go through her vineyards and destroy them,
but do not destroy them completely.
Cut away the branches,
because they do not belong to the Lord.
11 The house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been completely unfaithful to me, declares the Lord.
12 They have lied about the Lord.
They say, “He is nothing.
No disaster will come upon us.
We will not see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are only wind.
The word is not in them,
so let what they say come upon them.”[c]
14 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Armies, says.
Because they have said this,
I will make my words in your mouth a fire.
These people are the wood, and it will burn them up.
15 Now, O house of Israel, I am bringing against you
a nation from far away, declares the Lord.
I am bringing an enduring nation, an ancient nation.
They are a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave.
They are all strong warriors.
17 They will consume your harvest and your bread.
They will consume your sons and daughters.
They will consume your flocks and herds,
and they will consume your vines and fig trees.
With their swords they will beat down your fortified cities,
the places in which you trust.
18 Yet even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not destroy you completely. 19 When the people ask, “Why has the Lord our God done this to us?” answer them, “Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.”
20 Declare this to the house of Jacob!
Proclaim it in Judah!
21 Hear this, you foolish, senseless people!
You have eyes but you cannot see.
You have ears but you cannot hear.
22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I made sand as the boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it cannot cross.
The waves toss back and forth,
but they cannot get past it.
The towering waves crash,
but they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside and wandered away.
24 They do not say to themselves,
“We should fear the Lord our God,
who sends autumn rains and spring rains at the right time,
who reserves for us enough weeks for the harvest.”
25 But your guilty actions have kept these things at a distance.
Your sins have kept these good things away from you.
26 Wicked men are found among my people.
Like men who trap birds, they lie in wait for my people
to set traps and catch people.[d]
27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit.
That is how they became powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat and sleek.
They have gone beyond evil words.[e]
They do not argue a case for the fatherless to help them win,
and they do not seek justice for the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord.
Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this one?
30 A terrible thing has taken place.
A horrible thing has happened in the land.
31 Prophets prophesy lies,
priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love this.
But what will you do in the end?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:1 The Hebrew text does not provide introductory words to mark the frequent changes of speaker. The translation provides headings to help the reader track these changes.
- Jeremiah 5:8 The meaning of each of these two adjectives is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 5:13 This closing quotation mark may be placed at the end of verse 12.
- Jeremiah 5:26 The meanings of two Hebrew words in this verse are uncertain.
- Jeremiah 5:28 Or their evil deeds overflow
Jeremiah 5
Lexham English Bible
5 “Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem,
and look please, and take note,
and search at its public squares,
if you can find a person who does justice,
who seeks honesty,
so that I may forgive it.
2 And though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’[a]
therefore[b] they swear falsely.”
3 O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty?
You have struck them, but they felt no pain,
you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline.
They have hardened their faces more than rock,
they have refused to turn back.
4 Then I said, “They are just simple people,
they are foolish,
for they know not the way of Yahweh,
the law[c] of their God.
5 Let me go to the great,
and let me speak with them,
for they know the way of Yahweh,
the law[d] of their God.”
However, they together have broken the yoke,
they have torn to pieces the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,
A wolf from the desert plains[e] will devastate them.
A leopard is watching their cities,
everyone who goes out from there will be torn,
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are numerous.
7 “How[f] can I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me,
and they have sworn by those who are not gods.
But I fed them to the full,
and they committed adultery,
and flocked to the house of a prostitute.
8 They were well-fed lusty horses,
they neighed each to the wife of his neighbor.
9 Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares[g] 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[h] Yahweh.
12 “They have denied Yahweh, and have said,
‘Not he, for[i] 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[j] 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[k] Yahweh.
“It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation.[l]
A nation whose language you do not know,
and you cannot understand what they speak.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb,
all of them are warriors.
17 And they will eat your harvest and your food,
they will eat your sons and your daughters,
they will eat your flock and your herd,
they will eat your vine and your fig tree,
they will smash with the sword your fortified cities,[m]
in which you trust.
18 “But even in those days,” declares[n] Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19 And then,[o] when you people say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all of these things to us?’ Then you will say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and have served gods of a foreign land in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that does not belong to you.’[p]
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob,
and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Hear this please, O foolish and senseless[q] people,
who have eyes[r] but do not see,
who have ears[s] but do not hear.’
22 Do you not revere me?” declares[t] Yahweh,
“Do you not tremble before me?[u]
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
as an everlasting limit,[v] and it cannot pass over it,
and they rise and fall loudly, but they cannot prevail,
and its waves roar, but they cannot pass over it.
23 But for this people is a stubborn and rebellious heart,
they have turned aside and have gone away.
24 And they do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear please Yahweh our God,
the one who gives the autumn rain[w] and the spring rain[x] in its season,
the set times of the harvest[y] he keeps for us.’
25 Your iniquities have disturbed these,
and your sins have kept away the good from you.
26 For wicked people are found among my people,
they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers,
they set up a trap,
they catch humans.
27 Like a cage full of birds,[z]
so their houses are full of fraud.
Therefore[aa] they have become great,
and they have become rich.
28 They have grown fat,
they have grown sleek,
also, their evil deeds have no limit.[ab]
They do not judge with justice,
the legal cause of the orphan,
or allow it to succeed,
and the legal case of the poor,
they do not defend.
29 Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares[ac] Yahweh,
“and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?
30 A horrific event and something horrible has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,[ad]
and the priests rule by their own authority,[ae]
and my people love it[af] so much.
But what will you do when the end comes?[ag]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:2 Literally “Life of Yahweh”
- Jeremiah 5:2 Literally “to thus”
- Jeremiah 5:4 Or “ordinance”
- Jeremiah 5:5 Or “ordinance”
- Jeremiah 5:6 Or “Arabah”
- Jeremiah 5:7 Literally “Why to this”
- Jeremiah 5:9 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 5:11 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 5:12 Literally “and”
- Jeremiah 5:14 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 5:15 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 5:15 Literally “a nation from a long time ago”
- Jeremiah 5:17 Literally “the cities of your fortification”
- Jeremiah 5:18 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 5:19 Literally “And it will happen”
- Jeremiah 5:19 Literally “a land not to you”
- Jeremiah 5:21 Literally “without heart”
- Jeremiah 5:21 Literally “eyes for them”
- Jeremiah 5:21 Literally “ears for them”
- Jeremiah 5:22 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 5:22 Literally “from the face of me”
- Jeremiah 5:22 Literally “a limit of eternity”
- Jeremiah 5:24 Hebrew “early rain”
- Jeremiah 5:24 Hebrew “late rain”
- Jeremiah 5:24 Literally “weeks due harvest”
- Jeremiah 5:27 Hebrew “bird”
- Jeremiah 5:27 Literally “Unto thus”
- Jeremiah 5:28 Literally “they cross over evil deeds”
- Jeremiah 5:29 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 5:31 Literally “in the lie”
- Jeremiah 5:31 Literally “by their hands”
- Jeremiah 5:31 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 5:31 Literally “to end her”
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