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1The Lord said,[#tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.]
“Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and see for yourselves.
Search through its public squares.
See if any of you can find a single person
who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.
If you can, then I will not punish this city.
2These people make promises in the name of the Lord .[#tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.]
But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie.”
3Lord , I know you look for faithfulness.[#tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.]
But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.
Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.
They have become as hardheaded as a rock.
They refuse to change their ways.
4I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.[#tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.]
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.
They do not know what their God requires of them.
5I will go to the leaders[#tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”]
and speak with them.
Surely they know what the Lord demands.
Surely they know what their God requires of them.”
Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority
and refuse to submit to him.
6So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.
Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.
Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities
and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.
For they have rebelled so much
and done so many unfaithful things.
7The Lord asked,[#tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.]
“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem?
Your people have rejected me
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all.
Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me.
They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes.
8They are like lusty, well-fed stallions.[#tn The meanings of these two adjectives are uncertain. The translation of the first adjective is based on assuming that the word is a defectively written participle related to the noun “testicle” (a Hiphil participle מַאֲשִׁכִים [ma’ashikhim] from a verb related to אֶשֶׁךְ [’eshekh, “testicle”]; cf. Lev 21:20) and hence “having testicles” (cf. HALOT 1379 s.v. שָׁכָה) instead of the Masoretic form מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) from a root שָׁכָה (shakhah), which is otherwise unattested in either verbal or nominal forms. The second adjective is best derived from a verb root meaning “to feed” (a Hophal participle מוּזָנִים [muzanim, the Kethib] from a root זוּן [zun; cf. BDB 266 s.v. זוּן] for which there is the cognate noun מָזוֹן [mazon; cf. 2 Chr 11:23]). This is more likely than the derivation from a root יָזַן ([yazan]reading מְיֻזָּנִים [mÿyuzzanim], a Pual participle with the Qere) which is otherwise unattested in verbal or nominal forms and whose meaning is dependent only on a supposed Arabic cognate (cf. HALOT 387 s.v. יָזַן).]
Each of them lusts after his neighbor’s wife.
9I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord .
“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”
10The Lord commanded the enemy,[#tn These words to not appear in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for the sake of clarity to identify the implied addressee.]
“March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them.
But do not destroy them completely.
Strip off their branches
for these people do not belong to the Lord .
11For the nations of Israel and Judah[#tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”]
have been very unfaithful to me,”
says the Lord .
12“These people have denied what the Lord says.[#tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.]
They have said, ‘That is not so!
No harm will come to us.
We will not experience war and famine.
13The prophets will prove to be full of wind.[#tn Heb “will be wind.”sn There is a wordplay on the Hebrew word translated “wind” (רוּחַ, ruakh) which also means “spirit.” The prophets spoke by inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord (cf., e.g., 2 Chr 20:14); hence the prophet was sometimes called “the man of the spirit” (cf. Hos 9:7). The people were claiming that the prophets were speaking lies and hence were full of wind, not the Spirit.]
The Lord has not spoken through them.
So, let what they say happen to them.’”
14Because of that, the Lord , the God who rules over all, said to me,[#tn Heb “Therefore.”; #tn Heb “The Lord God of armies.” See the translator’s note at 2:19.sn Here the emphasis appears to be on the fact that the Lord is in charge of the enemy armies whom he will use to punish Israel for their denial of his prior warnings through the prophets.; #tn The words, “to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.]
“Because these people have spoken like this,
I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.
And I will make this people like wood
which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.”
15The Lord says, “Listen, nation of Israel![#tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”; #tn Heb “Behold!”; #tn Heb “house of Israel.”]
I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.
It will be a nation that was founded long ago
and has lasted for a long time.
It will be a nation whose language you will not know.
Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.
16All of its soldiers are strong and mighty.[#tn Heb “All of them are mighty warriors.”]
Their arrows will send you to your grave.
17They will eat up your crops and your food.
They will kill off your sons and your daughters.
They will eat up your sheep and your cattle.
They will destroy your vines and your fig trees.
Their weapons will batter down
the fortified cities you trust in.
18Yet even then I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord .[#tn Heb “in those days.”]
19“So then, Jeremiah, when your people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ tell them, ‘It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So you must serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.’[#tn The word, “Jeremiah,” is not in the text but the second person address in the second half of the verse is obviously to him. The word is supplied in the translation here for clarity.; #tn The MT reads the second masculine plural; this is probably a case of attraction to the second masculine plural pronoun in the preceding line. An alternative would be to understand a shift from speaking first to the people in the first half of the verse and then speaking to Jeremiah in the second half where the verb is second masculine singular. E.g., “When you [people] say, “Why…?” then you, Jeremiah, tell them…”; #tn Heb “As you left me and…, so you will….” The translation was chosen so as to break up a rather long and complex sentence.; #sn This is probably a case of deliberate ambiguity (double entendre). The adjective “foreigners” is used for both foreign people (so Jer 30:8; 51:51) and foreign gods (so Jer 2:25; 3:13). See also Jer 16:13 for the idea of having to serve other gods in the lands of exile.]
20“Proclaim this message among the descendants of Jacob.[#sn The verbs are second plural here. Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, addresses his people, calling on them to make the message further known.; #tn Heb “in the house of Jacob.”]
Make it known throughout Judah.
21Tell them: ‘Hear this,
you foolish people who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not discern,
who have ears but do not perceive:
22“You should fear me!” says the Lord .
“You should tremble in awe before me!
I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it can never cross.
Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.
They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.”
23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and gone their own way.
24They do not say to themselves,[#tn Heb “say in their hearts.”]
“Let us revere the Lord our God.
It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.
It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.”
25Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming.[#tn Heb “have turned these things away.”]
Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’
26“Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.
They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush.
They set deadly traps to catch people.
27Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught,[#tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.]
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit.
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.
28That is how they have grown fat and sleek.[#tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.; #tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.]
There is no limit to the evil things they do.
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
29I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord .
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!
30“Something horrible and shocking
is going on in the land of Judah:
31The prophets prophesy lies.
The priests exercise power by their own authority.
And my people love to have it this way.
But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!