Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 5
Chapter 5 of Jeremiah
And look now and take note.
And seek in her open squares,
If you can 2find a man,
3If there is one who does justice, who seeks [a]truth,
Then I will pardon her.
Surely they swear falsely.”
You have 6smitten them,
But they did not [c]weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they 7refused to take correction.
They have 8made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to repent.
They are foolish;
For they 9do not know the way of the LORD
Or the ordinance of their God.
And will speak to them,
For 10they know the way of the LORD
And the ordinance of their God.”
But they too, with one accord, have 11broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
A 13wolf of the deserts will destroy them,
A 14leopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces,
Because their 15transgressions are many,
Their apostasies are numerous.
Your sons have forsaken Me
And 16sworn by those who are 17not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
They 18committed adultery
And trooped to the harlot’s house.
Each one neighing after his 19neighbor’s wife.
“And on a nation such as this
20Shall I not avenge Myself?
But do not execute a complete destruction;
Strip away her branches,
For they are not the LORD’S.
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the LORD.
And said, “[e]23Not He;
Misfortune will 24not come on us,
And we 25will not see sword or famine.
And the word is not in them.
Thus it will be done to them!”
“Because you have spoken this word,
Behold, I am 27making My words in your mouth fire
And this people wood, and it will consume them.
“It is an enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose 29language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
All of them are mighty men.
They will devour your sons and your daughters;
They will devour your flocks and your herds;
They will devour your 33vines and your fig trees;
They will demolish with the sword your 34fortified cities in which you trust.
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
Who have 37eyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have 39placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it.
Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
They have turned aside and departed.
“Let us now fear the LORD our God,
Who 41gives rain in its season,
Both 42the autumn rain and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The 43appointed weeks of the harvest.”
And your sins have withheld good from you.
They 45watch like fowlers [h]lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch men.
So their houses are full of 46deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
They also [i]excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the [j]48orphan, that they may prosper;
And they do not [k]defend the rights of the poor.
‘On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?’
Has happened in the land:
And the priests rule [m]on their own authority;
And My people 52love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?FOOTNOTES
REFERENCES
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