Jeremiah 5

1Search through Jerusalem's streets and see now, know, and seek in her squares if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does justice, who seeks faithfulness, and I will pardon her.

2And if they say, "Yahweh lives," then they swear falsely.

3Yahweh, are your eyes not set on faithfulness? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you annihilated them, but they refused to accept discipline. They braced their faces harder than rock; they refused to turn back.

4So I said, "Surely they are poor; they lack sense because they do not know Yahweh's way or the justice of their God."

5I will go to the great men and speak to them, for they know the way of Yahweh, the judgment of their God, but these together have broken the yoke and burst the bonds.

6A lion from the forest overpowers them, a wolf from the deserts destroys them, a leopard lies in wait over their cities; everyone who goes out from them will be torn apart, because their transgressions have multiplied and their turnings away have grown strong.

7How can I pardon you for this, since your sons have forsaken me and sworn by no gods—though I fed them fully, they committed adultery and banded together at the harlot's house?

8They were like well-fed, early-rising horses; each man neighed after his neighbor's wife.

9Should I not punish for these? declares Yahweh. Or should my soul not be avenged on a nation like this?

10Ascend her walls and destroy, but do not make a full end. Remove her branches, for they are not Yahweh's.

11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have grievously betrayed me, declares Yahweh.

12They denied Yahweh and said, "It's not him; no calamity will come upon us, nor will we see sword or famine."

13The prophets will be wind, and there is no word in them; thus it will be done to them.

14Therefore thus says Yahweh, God of Hosts: Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15Look, I am bringing a nation against you from a distant land, house of Israel, declares Yahweh—a mighty nation it is, an ancient nation it is, a nation whose language you do not know, nor grasp what it says.

16Their quiver is like an open grave; all of them are warriors.

17They will devour your harvest and your bread, devour your sons and your daughters, devour your flocks and your cattle, devour your vines and your fig trees, and impoverish your fortified cities—those in which you trust—with the sword.

18Even in those days, says Yahweh, I will not make a complete end of you.

19When you say, “Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?”, you will tell them, “As you forsook me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.”

20Announce this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21Hear this now, foolish, senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

22Do you not fear me?” says Yahweh. “Will you not tremble before me, who set the sand as a boundary for the sea by an eternal decree, that it cannot pass over it? Though its waves rage, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

23But this people has a rebellious and defiant heart; they have turned away and gone.

24They do not say in their hearts, "Let us now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, former and early, and latter, in its season; he guards for us the appointed weeks of harvest."

25Your iniquities have turned these aside, and your sins have kept the good from you.

26For wicked men are found among my people who lie in wait like fowlers setting snares, who erect a destruction and catch men.

27Like a cage full of birds, their houses brim with deceit; therefore they have grown great and become rich.

28They grew fat and sleek; indeed, they exceeded in evil deeds. They did not defend the cause, the fatherless' cause, yet they prospered; they did not judge the judgment of the needy.

29Shall I not punish for these? declares Yahweh. Shall not my soul take vengeance on a nation such as this?

30Astonishment and a horrible thing have happened in the land.

31The prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their own hands, while my people love it so. What will you do at its end?