The Book of Jeremiah
5:1 Run 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. 5:2And though they say, As
Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely. 5:3O Jehovah, 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. 5:4Then I said, Surely these
are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of
their God: 5:5I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they
know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God. But these with one accord
have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 5:6Wherefore a lion out of the forest
shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch
against their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces;
because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. 5:7How
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. 5:8They were as fed horses roaming at
large; every one neighed after his neighbor's wife. 5:9Shall I not visit for these
things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her
branches; for they are not Jehovah's. 5:11For the house of Israel and the house of
Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah. 5:12They have
denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither
shall we see sword nor famine: 5:13and the prophets shall become wind, and the
word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 5:14Wherefore thus saith
Jehovah, 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. 5:15Lo, I
will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a
mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not,
neither understandest what they say. 5:16Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are
all mighty men. 5:17And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons
and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall
eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy fortified cities,
wherein thou trustest, with the sword. 5:18But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I
will not make a full end with you. 5:19And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say,
Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou
say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land,
so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 5:20Declare ye this in the
house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 5:21Hear now this, O foolish people,
and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear
not: 5:22Fear ye not me? saith Jehovah: will ye not tremble at my presence, who
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. 5:23But this people hath a revolting
and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 5:24Neither say they in their
heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the
latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
5:25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden
good from you. 5:26For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as
fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. 5:27As a cage is full of birds, so
are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich.
5:28They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they
plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the
right of the needy do they not judge. 5:29Shall I not visit for these things? saith
Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 5:30A wonderful
and horrible thing is come to pass in the land: 5:31the 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?