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Jeremiah 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Jeremiah 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 5
Universal Corruption
1 Roam the streets of Jerusalem,
look about and observe,
Search through her squares,
to find even one
Who acts justly
and seeks honesty,
and I will pardon her!
2 They say, “As the Lord lives,”
but in fact they swear falsely.
3 Lord, do your eyes not search for honesty?
You struck them, but they did not flinch;
you laid them low, but they refused correction;
They set their faces harder than stone,
and refused to return.(A)
4 I thought: These are only the lowly,
they behave foolishly;
For they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.(B)
5 Let me go to the leaders
and speak with them;
For they must know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
But, one and all, they have broken the yoke,
torn off the harness.(C)
6 Therefore, lions from the forest slay them,
wolves of the desert ravage them,
Leopards keep watch round their cities:
all who come out are torn to pieces,
For their crimes are many,
their rebellions numerous.
7 Why should I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me,
they swear by gods that are no gods.
I fed them, but they commit adultery;
to the prostitute’s house they throng.
8 They are lustful stallions,
each neighs after the other’s wife.(D)
9 Should I not punish them for this?—oracle of the Lord;
on a nation like this should I not take vengeance?
10 Climb her terraces, and ravage them,
destroy them completely.
Tear away her tendrils,
they do not belong to the Lord.(E)
11 For they have openly rebelled against me,
both the house of Israel and the house of Judah—
oracle of the Lord.(F)
12 They denied the Lord,[a]
saying, “He is nothing,
No evil shall come to us,
neither sword nor famine shall we see.(G)
13 The prophets are wind,
and the word is not with them.
Let it be done to them!”
14 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,
because you have said this—
See! I make my words
a fire in your mouth,
And this people the wood
that it shall devour!—
15 Beware! I will bring against you
a nation from far away,
O House of Israel—oracle of the Lord;
A long-lived nation, an ancient nation,
a people whose language you do not know,
whose speech you cannot understand.(H)
16 Their quivers are like open graves;
all of them are warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your bread,
devour your sons and your daughters,
Devour your sheep and cattle,
devour your vines and fig trees;
With their swords they will beat down
the fortified cities in which you trust.(I)
18 Yet even in those days—oracle of the Lord—I will not completely destroy you.(J) 19 And when they ask, “Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?” say to them, “As you have abandoned me to serve foreign gods in your own land, so shall you serve foreigners in a land not your own.”
20 Announce this to the house of Jacob,
proclaim it in Judah:
21 Pay attention to this,
you foolish and senseless people,
Who have eyes and do not see,
who have ears and do not hear.(K)
22 Should you not fear me—oracle of the Lord—
should you not tremble before me?
I made the sandy shore the sea’s limit,
which by eternal decree it may not overstep.
Toss though it may, it is to no avail;
though its billows roar, they cannot overstep.(L)
23 But this people’s heart is stubborn and rebellious;
they turn and go away,
24 And do not say in their hearts,
“Let us fear the Lord, our God,
Who gives us rain
early and late,[b] in its time;
Who watches for us
over the appointed weeks of harvest.”(M)
25 Your crimes have prevented these things,
your sins have turned these blessings away from you.(N)
26 For criminals lurk among my people;
like fowlers they set traps,
but it is human beings they catch.(O)
27 Their houses are as full of treachery
as a bird-cage is of birds;
Therefore they grow powerful and rich,
28 fat and sleek.
They pass over wicked deeds;
justice they do not defend
By advancing the claim of the orphan
or judging the cause of the poor.(P)
29 Shall I not punish these things?—oracle of the Lord;
on a nation such as this shall I not take vengeance?
30 Something shocking and horrible
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests teach on their own authority;
Yet my people like it this way;
what will you do when the end comes?(Q)
Footnotes
- 5:12 They denied the Lord: the people act as though God does not matter and will not interfere.
- 5:24 Rain early and late: autumn and spring rains respectively. Appointed weeks of harvest: the seven weeks between the Passover (Dt 16:9–10) and the feast of Weeks (Pentecost), when it did not ordinarily rain.
Jeremiah 5
The Voice
Jeremiah 5
The Voice
5 Eternal One: Roam the streets of Jerusalem, and tell Me what you see, Jeremiah.
See if you can find anything good happening anywhere.
Look in the marketplaces and open spaces of the city.
If you can find just one honest person who lives according to My ways,
I’ll spare the city of this horror.
2 I hear them making oaths in My name. “As the Eternal lives,” they say.
But they know the oaths are not true.
As when Abraham pleaded with God over Sodom’s fate (Genesis 18:23–32), God is willing to spare Jerusalem if the prophet can find a single person, honest and true, living there.
3 Jeremiah: O Eternal One, aren’t You looking for truth and integrity?
You struck them, but they did not flinch.
You destroyed them, but they did not yield to Your correction.
They wouldn’t change their ways.
They have set their stony faces against You—
defiant and determined, refusing to repent.
4 And I thought to myself, “How could they know any better?
They are poor and senseless people, unfamiliar with the ways of the Eternal,
Unaware of what their God requires.
5 So I will go to their leaders and share what I see.
They will do the right thing because they know the Eternal’s ways.
Surely, they will do what their God requires.”
But to a person, I was wrong; leaders were no different;
They, too, had broken the yoke, burst the bonds,
and pulled away from God’s guidance and correction.
6 Therefore, from the forest, a lion will strike.
From the desert, a wolf will pounce and destroy.
And from the shadows, a leopard now stalks their villages,
waiting to tear apart any who dare wander outside.
Such is the fate of all who fall away,
for their rebellion is great; their sins are many.
7 Eternal One (to His people): How can I forgive what you’ve done?
You have passed on your legacy of rebellion to your children who also rejected Me.
They have made unholy oaths in the names of so-called gods.
Why? I have fed them till they were full, and still they wanted more.
So they betrayed Me with their adultery,
trooping off to worship idols, filling up the houses of prostitutes.
8 They have everything they need, and still they want more.
Like lusty stallions, they call for each other’s mate.
9 Should I not punish them for these atrocities?
Against this nation, should I not avenge Myself?
10 (to His people’s enemies) Walk through the rows in her vineyards, and destroy them.
But do not destroy them completely.
Lop off the branches,
for they do not belong to Me, the Eternal.
11 Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have betrayed Me.
12 They spew lies about the Eternal that mock My sovereign power.
They have said, “Nothing will happen! God will not hurt us!
All this talk of war and famine is just talk.
13 As for the prophets, they are full of hot air;
the word of God is not in them;
Let their words of doom fall on them.”
14 The Eternal One, Commander of heavenly armies, has this to say:
Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Because this is the way they[a] speak,
I am going to turn My words in your mouth into a fire,
A fire that will consume these people; they are nothing but kindling for My fury.
15 (to His people) O house of Israel, I am stirring up a distant nation to march against you.
They are an enduring people from ancient times.
The language they speak is unknown to you;
you will not understand them.
16 Their quiver is like a gaping grave, full of death.
They are all mighty warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your food.
They will devour your sons and daughters.
They will devour your livestock, flocks, and herds.
They will devour your vineyards and orchards.
They will wield their swords
and cut down the fortified cities you think are so safe.
(to Jeremiah) 18 But even then, I will not destroy your people completely. 19 So when they ask you, “Why has the Eternal done this to us? Why would our one True God treat us this way?” remind them and speak to them My words: “Because you have rejected Me and bowed down to foreign gods in a land that was yours, now you will bow down to a foreign people in a land that is not yours.”
20 Declare My truth to the house of Jacob.
Proclaim it throughout the land of Judah:
21 Hear Me you foolish, heartless people.
Even with eyes and ears you are still blind and deaf to what is happening.
22 Do you not realize who I am? Do you not fear Me?
Do you not shake in the presence of the Eternal, the Creator of all things?
It is I who has drawn for all time the boundaries of the sea.
The waves may crash and roar against the sand,
But the waters do not cross the lines I have drawn.
23 But with stubborn and defiant hearts, this people
ignored Me and left Me for another.
24 It never occurs to them to say,
“Let us stand in awe of the Eternal our God,
For He sends the rain—both the autumn and the spring rain—
and He brings the harvest at just the right time year after year.”
25 It is your sins that hold back the rain.
It is your rebellion that keeps good things from happening to you.
26 Lurking among My own people are the wicked
who watch and wait, preying on the less fortunate.
Like hunters who set traps for birds,
they ensnare people for their own benefit.
27 Like a cage full of noisy birds, their homes are filled with screeching lies.
This is how they have become so rich and important—because others fell for their lies.
28 This is how they have grown so fat and polished.
Their evil deeds know no boundaries.
They do not take the side of the orphaned to help them prosper.
They do not seek justice for the poor;
29 Should I not punish them for these atrocities?
Against a nation like this, should I not avenge Myself?
30 (to His people) Something horrible and appalling has happened
in this land of promise.
31 The prophets who claim to speak for Me
are nothing more than false prophets, spewing lies and empty predictions.
The priests who were to do My bidding have chosen to go their own way,
and all the while, My people think nothing of it.
They actually prefer it this way,
but when the end comes, when My justices arrives, what will you do then?
Footnotes
- 5:14 Hebrew manuscripts read, “you.”
Jeremiah 5
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Jeremiah 5
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Depravity of Jerusalem
5 Roam(A) through the streets of Jerusalem.
Investigate;[a]
search in her squares.
If you find one person,(B)
any who acts justly,
who pursues faithfulness,
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 been foolish.
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 arid plains will ravage them.
A leopard(P) stalks 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[b] prostitute’s house.
8 They are well-fed,[c] eager[d] 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.[e](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 Judgement
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Armies 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 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.
With the sword they will destroy
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 offence 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[f] 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 seasonal rains, both autumn and spring,(AU)
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,(AV)
26 for wicked men live among my people.
They watch like hunters[g] lying in wait.[h](AW)
They set a trap;(AX)
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.(AY)
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat(AZ) 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.(BA)
29 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself(BB)
on such a nation as this?
Jeremiah 5
New International Version
Jeremiah 5
New International Version
Not One Is Upright
5 “Go up and down(A) the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and consider,(B)
search through her squares.
If you can find but one person(C)
who deals honestly(D) and seeks the truth,
I will forgive(E) this city.
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’(F)
still they are swearing falsely.(G)”
3 Lord, do not your eyes(H) look for truth?
You struck(I) them, but they felt no pain;
you crushed them, but they refused correction.(J)
They made their faces harder than stone(K)
and refused to repent.(L)
4 I thought, “These are only the poor;
they are foolish,(M)
for they do not know(N) the way of the Lord,
the requirements of their God.
5 So I will go to the leaders(O)
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
the requirements of their God.”
But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
and torn off the bonds.(P)
6 Therefore a lion from the forest(Q) will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will ravage(R) them,
a leopard(S) will lie in wait near their towns
to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
and their backslidings many.(T)
7 “Why should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me
and sworn(U) by gods that are not gods.(V)
I supplied all their needs,
yet they committed adultery(W)
and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.(X)
8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
each neighing for another man’s wife.(Y)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”(Z)
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(AA) myself
on such a nation as this?
10 “Go through her vineyards and ravage them,
but do not destroy them completely.(AB)
Strip off her branches,
for these people do not belong to the Lord.
11 The people of Israel and the people of Judah
have been utterly unfaithful(AC) to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 They have lied(AD) about the Lord;
they said, “He will do nothing!
No harm will come to us;(AE)
we will never see sword or famine.(AF)
13 The prophets(AG) are but wind(AH)
and the word is not in them;
so let what they say be done to them.”
14 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says:
“Because the people have spoken these words,
I will make my words in your mouth(AI) a fire(AJ)
and these people the wood it consumes.(AK)
15 People of Israel,” declares the Lord,
“I am bringing a distant nation(AL) against you—
an ancient and enduring nation,
a people whose language(AM) you do not know,
whose speech you do not understand.
16 Their quivers(AN) are like an open grave;
all of them are mighty warriors.
17 They will devour(AO) your harvests and food,
devour(AP) your sons and daughters;
they will devour(AQ) your flocks and herds,
devour your vines and fig trees.(AR)
With the sword(AS) they will destroy
the fortified cities(AT) in which you trust.(AU)
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not destroy(AV) you completely. 19 And when the people ask,(AW) ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods(AX) in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners(AY) in a land not your own.’
20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob
and proclaim(AZ) it in Judah:
21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,(BA)
who have eyes(BB) but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear:(BC)
22 Should you not fear(BD) me?” declares the Lord.
“Should you not tremble(BE) in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,(BF)
an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;
they may roar,(BG) but they cannot cross it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious(BH) hearts;
they have turned aside(BI) and gone away.
24 They do not say to themselves,
‘Let us fear(BJ) the Lord our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains(BK) in season,
who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’(BL)
25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away;
your sins have deprived you of good.(BM)
26 “Among my people are the wicked(BN)
who lie in wait(BO) like men who snare birds
and like those who set traps(BP) to catch people.
27 Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;(BQ)
they have become rich(BR) and powerful
28 and have grown fat(BS) and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;(BT)
they do not defend the just cause of the poor.(BU)
29 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(BV) myself
on such a nation as this?
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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The Voice (VOICE)
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