Jeremiah 5

¹“Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem,

and search at its public squares,

who seeks honesty,

²And though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’[#Literally “Life of Yahweh”]

³O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty?

you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline.

⁴Then I said, “They are just simple people,

for they know not the way of Yahweh,

⁵Let me go to the great,

for they know the way of Yahweh,

However, they together have broken the yoke,

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,

A leopard is watching their cities,

because their transgressions are many,

⁷“How can I forgive you?[#Literally “Why to this”]

and they have sworn by those who are not gods.

and they committed adultery,

⁸They were well-fed lusty horses,

⁹Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares Yahweh,[#Literally “a declaration of”]

¹⁰Go up through her vineyards and destroy,

Remove her branches,

¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

¹²“They have denied Yahweh, and have said,

¹³And the prophets are like wind,

Thus it will be done to them.”

¹⁴Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,[#Literally “To thus”]

look, I am making my words in your mouth like a fire,

¹⁵Look, I am about to bring on you a nation from afar,

“It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation.

¹⁶Their quiver is like an open tomb,

¹⁷And they will eat your harvest and your food,

they will eat your flock and your herd,

they will smash with the sword your fortified cities,

¹⁸“But even in those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction.[#Literally “a declaration of”]

¹⁹And then, 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.’[#Literally “And it will happen”; #Literally “a land not to you”]

²⁰“Declare this in the house of Jacob,

²¹‘Hear this please, O foolish and senseless people,[#Literally “without heart”]

²²Do you not revere me?” declares Yahweh,[#Literally “a declaration of”]

For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,

and they rise and fall loudly, but they cannot prevail,

²³But for this people is a stubborn and rebellious heart,

²⁴And they do not say in their hearts,

the one who gives the autumn rain and the spring rain in its season,

²⁵Your iniquities have disturbed these,

²⁶For wicked people are found among my people,

they set up a trap,

²⁷Like a cage full of birds,[#Hebrew “bird”]

Therefore they have become great,

²⁸They have grown fat,

also, their evil deeds have no limit.

the legal cause of the orphan,

and the legal case of the poor,

²⁹Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares Yahweh,[#Literally “a declaration of”]

³⁰A horrific event and something horrible has happened in the land.

³¹The prophets prophesy falsely,[#Literally “in the lie”]

and my people love it so much.