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 executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

1. "Go through the streets of Jerusalem; observe carefully and take note. Search the entire city squares and find, if you can, even one man who acts justly and seeks the truth, that I may forgive this city."

2. And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

2. Even though they swear, 'As surely as Yahweh lives' they do not mean what they say.

3. O LORD, [are] not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have 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.

3. O Yahweh, are you not looking for truth? You struck them but they did not feel it; you crushed them but they rejected correction. They set their faces harder than a rock and refused to repent.

4. 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.

4. Then I thought: "Such are the poor, they act foolishly because they do not know the way of Yahweh, the law of their God!

5. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, [and] the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, [and] burst the bonds.

5. So I will go to the well-to-do and speak to them for they know the way of Yahweh and the law of their God." But they, too, have broken their yoke and burst their bonds!

6. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, [and] a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased.

6. That is why the lion from the forest will slay them and the wolf from the desert will destroy them, while the leopard lurks around their cities. Anyone who comes out is torn to pieces, for great is their sin and many are their desertions!

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

7. "Why should I pardon you? Your sons have rejected me and sworn by false gods. I gave them all they needed and yet they committed adultery and trooped to the harlot's house. They are well-fed,

8. They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

8. lusty stallions, each one neighing for his neighbor's wife.

9. Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

9. Shall I not call them to account - it is Yahweh who speaks - shall I not take vengeance against a nation like this?

10. Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they [are] not the LORD'S.

10. Go up, nations, through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not entirely destroy my vine. Cut off her branches for they are not Yahweh's.

11. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

11. For the people of Israel and Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me - it is Yahweh who speaks.

12. They have belied the LORD, and said, [It is] not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

12. They have spoken falsely of Yahweh, saying, "He does not exist; no harm will happen to us; we shall see neither the sword nor famine!

13. And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

13. As for the prophets, they are but wind. God doesn't speak to them."

14. Wherefore thus saith the LORD 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.

14. Because of this, Yahweh the God of hosts has spoken, "This is what I am going to do to them: I will put words in your mouth. They will be like a fire, and this people will be the wood it devours."

15. Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it [is] a mighty nation, it [is] an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

15. People of Israel! I will bring against you a nation from afar - it is Yahweh who speaks - whose language you do not understand.

16. Their quiver [is] as an open sepulchre, they [are] all mighty men.

16. All of them are mighty warriors.

17. And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, [which] thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

17. They will devour your harvest and your food, devour your sons and daughters, devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and your fig trees. They will devastate with the sword the fortified cities in which you trust.

18. Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

18. But even in those days - it is Yahweh who speaks - I will not utterly destroy them.

19. And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these [things] unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land [that is] not yours.

19. And when they ask, "Why has Yahweh our God done all this to us?" you shall say to them, "Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own."

20. Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

20. Declare this to the people of Jacob and make it known in Judah,

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

21. listen, stupid and senseless people! who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear!

22. Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which 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?

22. Do you not fear me? - it is Yahweh who speaks - Will you not tremble before me? I set the sand as a limit to the sea, an everlasting barrier it may never pass; its waves toss but cannot prevail; they roar but are unable to go beyond it.

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

23. But this people's heart is rebellious and stubborn; they have turned aside and gone away!

24. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

24. They do not say in their hearts, "Let us fear Yahweh our God who sends in season the rain, and has in store for us the harvest."

25. Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins have withholden good [things] from you.

25. Your crimes have turned order into chaos, your sins have deprived you of these blessings,

26. For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

26. for among my people are wicked men; they set traps like fowlers and catch human beings.

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

27. Their houses are filled with loot, like a cage full of birds. It has turned them rich and powerful;

28. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

28. they have become fat and sleek. Great is their wickedness; there is no justice in their judgment, for they do not protect the orphan's rights nor defend the needy's cause!

29. Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

29. Should I not severely punish them for such things? - it is Yahweh who speaks - Should I not exact vengeance against a people like them?

30. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

30. A terrible and abominable thing has happened in the land,

31. The 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?

31. prophets prophesy lies and priests teach what pleases them, and my people like it to be so. But what will you do soon?