Jeremiah, 5

1. Rove the streets of Jerusalem, now look and enquire, see in her squares if you can find an individual, one individual who does right and seeks the truth, and I will pardon her, Yahweh says.

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.

2. Although they say, 'As Yahweh lives,' they are, in fact, swearing a false oath.

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

3. Yahweh, do your eyes not look for truth? You have struck them; they have not felt it. You have annihilated them, for they ignored the lesson. They have set their faces harder than rock, they have refused to repent.

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.

4. I thought, 'These are only the poor! They behave stupidly since they do not know Yahweh's way or the ruling of their God.

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.

5. I shall approach the great men and speak to them, for these will know Yahweh's way and the ruling of their God.' But these, too, have broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.

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.

6. And so, a lion from the forest will slaughter them, a wolf from the plains will despoil them, a leopard will be lurking round their towns: anyone who goes out will be torn to pieces -- because of their many crimes, their countless infidelities.

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.

7. 'Why should I pardon you? Your sons have abandoned me, to swear by gods that are not gods at all. I fed them full, and they became adulterers, they hurried to the brothel.

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.

8. They are well-fed, roving stallions, each neighing for his neighbour's wife.

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

9. Shall I fail to punish this, Yahweh demands, or on such a nation to exact vengeance?

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

10. Scale her terraces! Destroy! But do not annihilate her completely! Strip off her branches, for Yahweh does not own them!

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.

11. How treacherously they have treated me, the House of Israel and the House of Judah! Yahweh declares.

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

12. 'They have denied Yahweh, they have said, "He is nothing; no evil will overtake us, we shall not see sword or famine.

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:

13. And the prophets? Nothing but wind; the word is not in them; let those very things happen to them!" '

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

14. Because of this, Yahweh, God Sabaoth, says this, 'Since you have said such things, now I shall make my words a fire in your mouth, and make this people wood, for the fire to devour.

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.

15. Now I shall bring on you a nation from afar, House of Israel, Yahweh declares, an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you grasp what they say.

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.

16. Their quiver a gaping tomb, they are all of them fighters.

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

17. They will devour your harvest and your food, devour your sons and daughters, devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees, and demolish your fortified towns in which you trust -- with the sword!'

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.

18. 'Yet even in those days, Yahweh declares, I shall not annihilate you completely.

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

19. 'And when you ask, "Why has Yahweh our God done all this to us?" you will give them this answer, "As you abandon me to serve alien gods in your own country, so you must serve aliens in a country not your own."

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.

20. 'Announce this in the House of Jacob, proclaim it in Judah, and say,

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

21. "Now listen to this, stupid, brainless people who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear!

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

22. Have you no fear of me? Yahweh demands. Will you not tremble before me who set the sand as limit to the sea, as an everlasting barrier it cannot pass? Its waves may toss but not prevail, they may roar but cannot pass beyond.

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?

23. But this people has a rebellious, unruly heart; they have rebelled and gone!

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

24. Nor do they say to themselves: Now we ought to fear Yahweh our God who gives the rain, of autumn and of spring, at the right season, and reserves us the weeks appointed for harvest.

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.

25. Your misdeeds have upset all this, your sins have deprived you of these blessings."

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

26. Yes, there are wicked men among my people who watch like fowlers on the alert; they set traps and they catch human beings.

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

27. Like a cage full of birds so are their houses full of loot; they have grown rich and powerful because of it,

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

28. they are fat, they are sleek, in wickedness they go to any lengths: they have no respect for rights, for orphans' rights, and yet they succeed! They have not upheld the cause of the needy.

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.

29. Shall I fail to punish this, Yahweh demands, or on such a nation to exact vengeance?

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

30. Horrible, disgusting things are happening in the land:

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

31. the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests exploit the people. And my people love it! But when the end comes, what will you do?

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?