Jeremiah 5
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1“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.1"Wander through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and investigate; search through her squares and see whether you find anyone— even one person there—doing justice and seeking truth. Then I'll forgive them.
2But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!”2Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' still they are swearing falsely."
3LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.3LORD, don't your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they didn't flinch. You brought them to an end, but they refused to receive discipline. They made their faces harder than stone, and they refused to repent.
4Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the LORD. They don’t understand God’s laws.4Then I said, "These are only the poor, they're foolish, for they don't know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God.
5So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the LORD and understand God’s laws.” But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God’s yoke and broken his chains.5Let me go to the leaders and speak to them. For they know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God." "But they, all together, have broken the yoke and torn off the restraints.
6So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.6Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will devastate them. A leopard is watching their towns, and everyone who goes out of them will be torn to pieces. For their transgressions are many, and their apostasies numerous.
7“How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.7Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken me, and you have sworn by those who aren't gods. When I gave them enough food to satisfy them, they committed adultery and marched to the prostitute's house.
8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.8They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.
9Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?9"Should I not punish them for these things?" asks the LORD, "And on a nation like this, should I not seek retribution?"
10“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the LORD.10"Go through her rows of vines and destroy them, but don't completely destroy them. Strip away her branches, because they aren't the LORD's.
11The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD.11For both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me," declares the LORD.
12“They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.12"They have lied about the LORD by saying, 'He wouldn't do that! Disaster won't come on us. We won't see sword and famine.
13God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”13The prophets are nothing but wind, and the word is not in them. So may the disaster happen to them!'"
14Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.14Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies says: "Because you people have said this, my words in your mouth will become a fire and these people the wood. The fire will destroy them.
15O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.15People of Israel, I'm now bringing a nation from far away to attack you," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know. And you won't understand what they say.
16Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.16Their quiver is like an open grave, and all of them are powerful warriors.
17They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.17"They'll devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons and your daughters. They'll devour your vines and your fig trees. With their swords they'll batter down your fortified cities in which you trust.
18“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD.18"Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I won't destroy you completely.
19“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’ A Warning for God’s People19When the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you are to say to them, 'Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'"
20“Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah:20"Declare this to the descendants of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah:
21Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.21Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don't see; they have ears, but don't hear.
22Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.22You don't fear me, do you?' declares the LORD. 'You don't tremble before me, do you? I'm the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.'
23But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and have gone away.
24They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’24They don't say to themselves, 'Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'
25Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.25Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back from you what is good.
26“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.26"Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people.
27Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich,
28They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.28and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor.
29Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?29Should I not punish them for this?' asks the LORD. 'Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?'
30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land—30"An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:
31the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?31The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.
Jeremiah 4
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