Jeremiah 5

¹Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her. ²And though they say, As the LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. ³O LORD, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. ⁴Then I said, Surely these are poor: they are foolish; for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God: ⁵I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bands. ⁶Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities, every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, andtheir backslidings are increased. ⁷How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots’ houses. ⁸They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife. ⁹shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? ¹⁰Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches: for they are not the LORD’S. ¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. ¹²They have denied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: ¹³and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. ¹⁴Wherefore thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. ¹⁵Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. ¹⁶Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. ¹⁷And they shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread, whichthy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall beat down thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. ¹⁸But even in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. ¹⁹And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. ²⁰Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, ²¹Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: ²²Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. ²³But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. ²⁴Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. ²⁵Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you. ²⁶For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. ²⁷As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. ²⁸They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness: they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they should prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. ²⁹shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? ³⁰A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land; ³¹the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?