Yirmeyahu 5 ירמיהו ה׳

Run to and fro through the streets of Yerushalayim, and see now, and know, and seek in its broad places, if you can find a man, if there be any that does justice, that seeks the truth; and I will pardon it.

And though they say, As the Lord lives; surely they swear falsely.

O Lord, are not Thy eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not smarted; 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.

Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.

I will get me to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these all alike have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf from the deserts shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: everyone that goes out from there shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.

They were up betimes like well fed horses; every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

Shall I not punish for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Go up upon her vine rows, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches; for they are not the Lord’s.

For the house of Yisra᾽el and the house of Yehuda have dealt very treacherously against me, says the Lord.

They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword or famine:

And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them.

Wherefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Yisra᾽el, says the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowst not, neither dost thou understand what they say.

Their quiver is like an open tomb, they are all mighty men.

And 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 batter thy fortified cities, wherein thou dost trust, with the sword.

Nevertheless in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a full end with you.

And it shall come to pass, when you shall say, Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us? then shalt thou answer them, As you have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Declare this in the house of Ya῾aqov, and publish it in Yehuda, saying,

Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not:

Do you not fear me? says the Lord: will you 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 its waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season: that keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you.

For among my people are found wicked men: they lie in wait, as he that sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and grown rich.

They are grown fat, and sleek: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness: they judge not the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

Shall I not punish for these things? says the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

An appalling and horrible thing is committed in the land;

the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do when the end of it comes?