Jeremiah 5
International Standard Version
A Dialogue about Righteousness: The Lord Speaks
5 “Wander through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and investigate;[a]
search through her squares
and see whether you find anyone—
even one person there—doing justice and seeking truth.
Then I’ll forgive them.[b]
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
still they are swearing falsely.”[c]
The Prophet Speaks
3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for truth?
You struck[d] them, but they didn’t flinch.[e]
You brought them to an end,
but they refused to receive discipline.
They made their faces harder than stone,
and they refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor,
they’re foolish,
for they don’t know the Lord’s way,
the requirement[f] of their God.
5 Let me go to the leaders[g] and speak to them.
For they know the Lord’s way,
the requirement[h] of their God.”
The Lord Answers
“But they, all together, have broken the yoke
and torn off the restraints.[i]
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will devastate them.
A leopard is watching their towns,
and everyone who goes out of them
will be torn to pieces.
For their transgressions are many,
and their apostasies numerous.
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your sons have forsaken me,
and you have sworn by those
who aren’t gods.
When I gave them enough food to satisfy them,
they committed adultery
and marched to the prostitute’s house.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 “Should I not punish them for these things?”
asks the Lord,
“And on a nation like this,
should I not seek retribution?”
The People Reject God’s Warning
10 “Go through her rows of vines and destroy them,
but don’t completely destroy them.
Strip away her branches,
because they aren’t the Lord’s.
11 For both the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly unfaithful to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “They have lied about the Lord
by saying, ‘He wouldn’t do that![j]
Disaster won’t come on us.
We won’t see sword and famine.
13 The prophets are nothing but[k] wind,
and the word is not in them.
So may the disaster happen to them!’”[l]
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies says:
“Because you people[m] have said this,
my words in your[n] mouth will become a fire
and these people the wood.
The fire[o] will destroy them.
15 People of Israel, I’m now bringing
a nation from far away to attack you,”
declares the Lord.
“It is an enduring nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you don’t know.
And you won’t understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave,
and all of them are powerful warriors.
17 “They’ll devour your harvest and your food.
They’ll devour your sons and your daughters.
They’ll devour your vines and your fig trees.
With their swords they’ll batter down
your fortified cities in which you trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I won’t destroy you completely. 19 When the people[p] ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you are to say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’”
The Lord Warns a Stubborn People
20 “Declare this to the descendants[q] of Jacob,
and proclaim it in Judah:
21 ‘Hear this, you foolish and stupid people:
They have eyes, but don’t see;
they have ears, but don’t hear.
22 ‘You don’t fear me, do you?’ declares the Lord.
‘You don’t tremble before me, do you?
I’m the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross.[r]
Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it,
though they roar, they cannot cross it.’
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24 They don’t say to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,
who gives rain in its season,
both the autumn and the spring rain.
He sets aside for us the weeks appointed
for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these things away,
and your sins have held back from you what is good.
26 “Evil men are found among my people.
They lie in wait like someone who traps birds.
They set a trap,
but they do so to catch people.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are filled with treachery.
This is how they have become prominent and rich,
28 and have grown fat and sleek.
There is no limit[s] to their evil deeds.
They don’t argue the case of the orphan to secure[t] justice.
They don’t defend the rights of[u] the poor.
29 ‘Should I not punish them for this?’[v]
asks the Lord.
‘Should I not avenge myself
on a nation like this?’
30 “An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
But what will you do in the end?”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:1 Lit. know
- Jeremiah 5:1 Lit. her; i.e. Judah
- Jeremiah 5:2 Or swearing to false gods
- Jeremiah 5:3 I.e. in discipline
- Jeremiah 5:3 Or did not weaken
- Jeremiah 5:4 Or judgments
- Jeremiah 5:5 Lit. great ones
- Jeremiah 5:5 Or judgments
- Jeremiah 5:5 Or cords
- Jeremiah 5:12 Lit. Not he
- Jeremiah 5:13 The Heb. lacks nothing but
- Jeremiah 5:13 Lit. so let it be done to them
- Jeremiah 5:14 Heb. you (pl.)
- Jeremiah 5:14 Heb. your (masculine sing.); i.e. in Jeremiah’s mouth
- Jeremiah 5:14 Lit. It
- Jeremiah 5:19 Lit. they
- Jeremiah 5:20 Or family
- Jeremiah 5:22 Or statute that it cannot transgress
- Jeremiah 5:28 Lit. pass over; or transgress
- Jeremiah 5:28 Lit. win
- Jeremiah 5:28 Lit. judge justly
- Jeremiah 5:29 Or punish these people
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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