Jeremiah 5

Not One Is Upright

¹“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,

look around and consider,

search through her squares.

If you can find but one person

who deals honestly and seeks the truth,

I will forgive this city.

²Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’

still they are swearing falsely.”

³Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?

You struck them, but they felt no pain;

you crushed them, but they refused correction.

They made their faces harder than stone

and refused to repent.

⁴I thought, “These are only the poor;

they are foolish,

for they do not know the way of the Lord,

the requirements of their God.

⁵So I will go to the leaders

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.

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,

a wolf from the desert will ravage them,

a leopard will lie in wait near their towns

to tear to pieces any who venture out,

for their rebellion is great

and their backslidings many.

⁷“Why should I forgive you?

Your children have forsaken me

and sworn by gods that are not gods.

I supplied all their needs,

yet they committed adultery

and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.

⁸They are well-fed, lusty stallions,

each neighing for another man’s wife.

⁹Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?

¹⁰“Go through her vineyards and ravage them,

but do not destroy them completely.

Strip off her branches,

for these people do not belong to the Lord.

¹¹The people of Israel and the people of Judah

have been utterly unfaithful to me,”

declares the Lord.

¹²They have lied about the Lord;

they said, “He will do nothing!

No harm will come to us;

we will never see sword or famine.

¹³The prophets are but wind

and the word is not in them;

so let what they say be done to them.”

¹⁴Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says:

“Because the people have spoken these words,

I will make my words in your mouth a fire

and these people the wood it consumes.

¹⁵People of Israel,” declares the Lord,

“I am bringing a distant nation against you—

an ancient and enduring nation,

a people whose language you do not know,

whose speech you do not understand.

¹⁶Their quivers are like an open grave;

all of them are mighty warriors.

¹⁷They will devour your harvests and food,

devour your sons and daughters;

they will devour your flocks and herds,

devour your vines and fig trees.

With the sword they will destroy

the fortified cities in which you trust.

¹⁸“Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not destroy you completely. ¹⁹And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’

²⁰“Announce this to the descendants of Jacob

and proclaim it in Judah:

²¹Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes but do not see,

who have ears but do not hear:

²²Should you not fear me?”

declares the Lord.

“Should you not tremble in my presence?

I made the sand a boundary for the sea,

an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.

The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;

they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

²³But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;

they have turned aside and gone away.

²⁴They do not say to themselves,

‘Let us fear the Lord our God,

who gives autumn and spring rains in season,

who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’

²⁵Your wrongdoings have kept these away;

your sins have deprived you of good.

²⁶“Among my people are the wicked

who lie in wait like men who snare birds

and like those who set traps to catch people.

²⁷Like cages full of birds,

their houses are full of deceit;

they have become rich and powerful

²⁸and have grown fat and sleek.

Their evil deeds have no limit;

they do not seek justice.

They do not promote the case of the fatherless;

they do not defend the just cause of the poor.

²⁹Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?

³⁰“A horrible and shocking thing

has happened in the land:

³¹The prophets prophesy lies,

the priests rule by their own authority,

and my people love it this way.

But what will you do in the end?