Futile search for a good person

¹Search every street in Jerusalem,

comb the squares,

look far and wide

²Even when making a pledge—“As the LORD lives”—

they swear falsely.

³LORD , don’t you look for integrity?

You have struck them down,

but they didn’t even cringe.

You have crushed them,

but they have ignored your discipline.

They make their faces harder than rock

and refuse to return.

⁴Then I thought to myself,

These are the poor who don’t know better!

They don’t understand the LORD ’s way

⁵Let me go and speak to the powerful people,

for they will surely know the LORD ’s way

and the justice of their God.

But they too have broken their yoke

and shattered the chains.

⁶Therefore, a lion from the forest will attack them;

a wolf from the desert will destroy them;

a leopard prowling around their towns

⁷How can I pardon you?

Your children have forsaken me

Although I could have satisfied them,

they committed adultery,

⁸They are lusty stallions roving about,

snorting for another’s wife.

⁹The LORD declares:

Shouldn’t I confront these acts?

Shouldn’t I take revenge on such a nation?

Contempt for God

¹⁰Climb through her vineyards and ravage them,

although not completely.

Prune back her branches,

because they aren’t the LORD ’s.

¹¹The people of Israel and Judah

have been utterly faithless to me,

¹²They have lied about the LORD

and said, “He’ll do nothing!

Disaster won’t come upon us;

we won’t see war or famine.”

¹³The prophets are so much wind;

the word isn’t in them.

¹⁴Therefore, the LORD God of heavenly forces proclaims:

Because you have spoken this way,

I will put my words

it will consume the people,

¹⁵I am about to bring a distant nation against you,

It is an established nation,

¹⁶Its weapons are deadly;[#5.16 Or Its quiver is like an open grave]

its warriors are many.

¹⁷It will devour your harvest and food;

it will devour your sons and daughters;

it will devour your flocks and herds;

it will devour your vines and fig trees;

it will shatter your fortified towns in which you trust—

¹⁸Yet even in those days, declares the LORD , I won’t completely destroy you.

¹⁹And when they ask, “Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?” you must reply, “Just as you have abandoned me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land not your own.”

Shouldn’t you fear me?

²⁰Declare this to the people of Jacob,

announce it in Judah:

²¹Listen, you foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes but don’t see

²²Shouldn’t you fear me,

and tremble before me,

Though its waves may rise and roar,

they can’t pass the limits I have set.

²³And yet the people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;

they turn and go their own way.

²⁴They don’t say in their hearts,

Let’s fear the LORD our God,

²⁵Your wrongdoing has turned these blessings away.[#5.25 Heb lacks]

Your sin has robbed you of good.

²⁶Criminals are found among my people;

they set traps to catch people,

²⁷Like a cage full of birds,

so their houses are full of loot.

No wonder they are rich and powerful

²⁸and have grown fat and sleek!

To be sure, their evil deeds exceed all limits,

and yet they prosper.

They are indifferent to the plight of the orphan,

reluctant to defend the rights of the poor.

²⁹Shouldn’t I punish such acts?

Shouldn’t I repay that nation for its deeds?

³⁰An awful, a terrible thing

has happened in the land:

But what will you do when the end comes?