Jeremiah 5

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BBE WEB

The Jews' profession of religion was hypocritical

Go quickly through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and get knowledge, and make a search in her wide places if there is a man, if there is one in her who is upright, who keeps faith; and she will have my forgiveness. “Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
And though they say, By the living Lord; truly their oaths are false. Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ surely they swear falsely.”
O Lord, do not your eyes see good faith? you have given them punishment, but they were not troubled; you have sent destruction on them, but they did not take your teaching to heart: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they would not come back. O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.
Then I said, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God. Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God.
I will go to the great men and have talk with them; for they have knowledge of the way of the Lord and of the behaviour desired by their God. But as for these, their one purpose is a broken yoke and burst bands. I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
And so a lion from the woods will put them to death, a wolf of the waste land will make them waste, a leopard will keep watch on their towns, and everyone who goes out from them will be food for the beasts; because of the great number of their sins and the increase of their wrongdoing. Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.
How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women. “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.
They were full of desire, like horses after a meal of grain: everyone went after his neighbour's wife. They were as fed horses roaming at large: everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this? Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh; “and shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

The cruel proceedings of their enemies

Go up against her vines and make waste; let the destruction be complete: take away her branches, for they are not the Lord's. “Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh’s.
For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have been very false to me, says the Lord. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says Yahweh.
They would have nothing to do with the Lord, saying, He will do nothing, and no evil will come to us; we will not see the sword or be short of food: They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.
And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them; so it will be done to them. The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.”
For this reason the Lord, the God of armies, has said: Because you have said this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and they will be burned up by it. Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
See, I will send you a nation from far away, O people of Israel, says the Lord; a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language is strange to you, so that you may not get the sense of their words. Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don’t know, neither understand what they say.
Their arrows give certain death, they are all men of war. Their quiver is an open tomb, they are all mighty men.
They will take all the produce of your fields, which would have been food for your sons and your daughters: they will take your flocks and your herds: they will take all your vines and your fig-trees: and with the sword they will make waste your walled towns in which you put your faith. They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
But even in those days, says the Lord, I will not let your destruction be complete. “But even in those days,” says Yahweh, “I will not make a full end with you.

Their apostacy and worship of false gods

And it will come about, when you say, Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you will say to them, As you gave me up, making yourselves servants to strange gods in your land, so will you be servants to strange men in a land which is not yours. It will happen, when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just like you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
Say this openly in Jacob and give it out in Judah, saying, “Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Give ear now to this, O foolish people without sense; who have eyes but see nothing, and ears without the power of hearing: ‘Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don’t see; who have ears, and don’t hear:
Have you no fear of me? says the Lord; will you not be shaking with fear before me, who have put the sand as a limit for the sea, by an eternal order, so that it may not go past it? and though it is ever in motion, it is not able to have its way; though the sound of its waves is loud, they are not able to go past it. Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it.’
But the heart of this people is uncontrolled and turned away from me; they are broken loose and gone. “But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.
And they do not say in their hearts, Now let us give worship to our God, who gives the rain, the winter and the spring rain, at the right time; who keeps for us the ordered weeks of the grain-cutting. Neither do they say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’
Through your evil-doing these things have been turned away, and your sins have kept back good from you. “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
For there are sinners among my people: they keep watch, like men watching for birds; they put a net and take men in it. For among my people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.
As the fowl-house is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: for this reason they have become great and have got wealth. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.
They have become fat and strong: they have gone far in works of evil: they give no support to the cause of the child without a father, so that they may do well; they do not see that the poor man gets his rights. They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excell in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t judge the right of the needy.
Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this? “Shall I not punish for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
A thing of wonder and fear has come about in the land; “An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.
The prophets give false words and the priests give decisions by their direction; and my people are glad to have it so: and what will you do in the end? The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?
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