Jeremiah 5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Depravity of Jerusalem
5 Roam(A) through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person,(B)
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her.(C)
2 When they say, “As the Lord lives,”(D)
they are swearing falsely.(E)
3 Lord, don’t Your eyes look for faithfulness?(F)
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.(G)
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.(H)
They made their faces harder than rock,(I)
and they refused to return.(J)
4 Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have played the fool.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,(K)
the justice of their God.(L)
5 I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.(M)
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.(N)
6 Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.(O)
A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.
A leopard(P) keeps watch over their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,(Q)
their unfaithful deeds numerous.(R)
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.(S)
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;(T)
they gashed themselves(U) at the[a] prostitute’s house.
8 They are well-fed,[b] eager[c] stallions,(V)
each neighing(W) after someone else’s wife.(X)
9 Should I not punish them for these things?(Y)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself(Z)
on such a nation as this?
10 Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,(AA)
but do not finish them off.(AB)
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.(AC)
11 They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with Me.(AD)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, “It won’t happen.[d](AE)
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13 The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make My words
become fire in your mouth.(AF)
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.(AG)
15 I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,(AH)
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.(AI)
16 Their quiver is like an open grave;(AJ)
they are all mighty warriors.
17 They will consume your harvest and your food.(AK)
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
They will destroy with the sword
your fortified cities(AL) in which you trust.
18 “But even in those days”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will not finish you off.(AM) 19 When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me(AN) and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.(AO)
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 Hear this,
you foolish and senseless[e] people.(AP)
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear.(AQ)
22 Do you not fear Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before Me,
the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?(AR)
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.(AS)
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24 They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,(AT)
who gives the rain,(AU) both early and late,(AV) in its season,(AW)
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25 Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld My bounty from you,(AX)
26 for wicked men live among My people.
They watch like fowlers lying in wait.[f](AY)
They set a trap;(AZ)
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.(BA)
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat(BB) and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.(BC)
29 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself(BD)
on such a nation as this?
30 A horrible, terrible thing
has taken place in the land.(BE)
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,(BF)
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it?(BG)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:7 Or adultery and trooped to the, or adultery and lodged at the; Hb obscure
- Jeremiah 5:8 Lit well-equipped; Hb obscure
- Jeremiah 5:8 Lit early-rising; Hb obscure
- Jeremiah 5:12 Lit He does not exist
- Jeremiah 5:21 Lit without heart
- Jeremiah 5:26 Hb obscure
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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