5
Jerusalem’s Godlessness
ARoam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now and take note.
And seek in her open squares,
If you can Bfind a man,
CIf there is one who does justice, who seeks 1truth,
Then I will pardon her.
“And Aalthough they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’
Surely they swear falsely.”
O Lord, do not AYour eyes look for 1truth?
You have Bsmitten them,
But they did not 2weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they Crefused to take correction.
They have Dmade their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to repent.
 
Then I said, “They are only the poor,
They are foolish;
For they Ado not know the way of the Lord
Or the ordinance of their God.
“I will go to the great
And will speak to them,
For Athey know the way of the Lord
And the ordinance of their God.”
But they too, with one accord, have Bbroken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
Therefore Aa lion from the forest will slay them,
A Bwolf of the deserts will destroy them,
A Cleopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces,
Because their Dtransgressions are many,
Their apostasies are numerous.
 
Why should I pardon you?
Your sons have forsaken Me
And Asworn by those who are Bnot gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
They Ccommitted adultery
And trooped to the harlot’s house.
“They were well-fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing after his Aneighbor’s wife.
“Shall I not punish 1these people,declares the Lord,
“And on a nation such as this
AShall I not avenge Myself?
 
10 Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
But do not execute a complete destruction;
Strip away her branches,
For they are not the Lord’s.
11 “For the Ahouse of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.
12 They have Alied about the Lord
And said, “1BNot He;
Misfortune will Cnot come on us,
And we Dwill not see sword or famine.
13 “The Aprophets are as wind,
And the word is not in them.
Thus it will be done to them!”
 
Judgment Proclaimed
14  Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,
Because you have spoken this word,
Behold, I am Amaking My words in your mouth fire
And this people wood, and it will consume them.
15 Behold, I am Abringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord.
“It is an enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose Blanguage you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
16 “Their Aquiver is like an Bopen grave,
All of them are mighty men.
17 “They will Adevour your harvest and your food;
They will devour your sons and your daughters;
They will devour your flocks and your herds;
They will devour your Bvines and your fig trees;
They will demolish with the sword your Cfortified cities in which you trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19 It shall come about Awhen 1they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will Bserve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
 
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 Now hear this, O foolish and 1senseless people,
Who have Aeyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.
22 ‘Do you not Afear Me?’ declares the Lord.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have Bplaced the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it.
Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
23 ‘But this people has a Astubborn and rebellious heart;
They have turned aside and departed.
24 ‘They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
Who Agives rain in its season,
Both Bthe autumn rain and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The Cappointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 ‘Your Ainiquities have turned these away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 ‘For wicked men are found among My people,
They Awatch like fowlers 1lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch men.
27 ‘Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of Adeceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 ‘They are Afat, they are sleek,
They also 1excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the 2Borphan, that they may prosper;
And they do not 3defend the rights of the poor.
29 AShall I not punish 1these people?declares the Lord,
‘On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?’
 
30 “An appalling and Ahorrible thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The Aprophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule 1on their own authority;
And My people Blove it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?
A 5:1 2 Chr 16:9; Dan 12:4 B 5:1 Ezek 22:30 C 5:1 Gen 18:26, 32 1 5:1 Lit faithfulness A 5:2 Is 48:1; Titus 1:16 A 5:3 2 Chr 16:9 1 5:3 Lit faithfulness B 5:3 Is 1:5; 9:13; Jer 2:30 2 5:3 Or become sick C 5:3 Jer 7:28; 8:5; Zeph 3:2 D 5:3 Jer 7:26; 19:15; Ezek 3:8 A 5:4 Is 27:11; Jer 8:7; Hos 4:6 A 5:5 Mic 3:1 B 5:5 Ex 32:25; Ps 2:3; Jer 2:20 A 5:6 Jer 4:7 B 5:6 Ezek 22:27; Hab 1:8; Zeph 3:3 C 5:6 Hos 13:7 D 5:6 Jer 30:14, 15 A 5:7 Josh 23:7; Jer 12:16; Zeph 1:5 B 5:7 Deut 32:21; Jer 2:11; Gal 4:8 C 5:7 Jer 7:9 A 5:8 Jer 13:27; 29:23; Ezek 22:11 1 5:9 Or for these things A 5:9 Jer 9:9 A 5:11 Jer 3:6, 7, 20 A 5:12 2 Chr 36:16 1 5:12 Lit He is not B 5:12 Prov 30:9; Jer 14:22; 43:1-4 C 5:12 Jer 23:17 D 5:12 Jer 14:13 A 5:13 Job 8:2; Jer 14:13, 15; 22:22 A 5:14 Is 24:6; Jer 1:9; 23:29; Hos 6:5; Zech 1:6 A 5:15 Deut 28:49; Is 5:26; Jer 4:16 B 5:15 Is 28:11 A 5:16 Is 5:28; 13:18 B 5:16 Ps 5:9 A 5:17 Lev 26:16; Deut 28:31, 33; Jer 8:16; 50:7, 17 B 5:17 Jer 8:13 C 5:17 Hos 8:14 A 5:19 Deut 29:24-26; 1 Kin 9:8, 9; Jer 13:22; 16:10-13 1 5:19 Or you B 5:19 Deut 28:48; Jer 16:13 1 5:21 Lit without heart A 5:21 Is 6:9; 43:8; Ezek 12:2; Matt 13:14; Mark 8:18; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Rom 11:8 A 5:22 Deut 28:58; Ps 119:120; Jer 2:19; 10:7; Rev 15:4 B 5:22 Job 38:8-11; Ps 104:9; Prov 8:29 A 5:23 Deut 21:18; Ps 78:8; Jer 4:17; 6:28 A 5:24 Ps 147:8; Jer 3:3; Matt 5:45; Acts 14:17 B 5:24 Joel 2:23 C 5:24 Gen 8:22 A 5:25 Jer 2:17; 4:18 A 5:26 Ps 10:9; Prov 1:11; Jer 18:22; Hab 1:15 1 5:26 Perhaps, crouching down A 5:27 Jer 9:6 A 5:28 Deut 32:15 1 5:28 Lit pass over, or, overlook deeds 2 5:28 Or fatherless B 5:28 Is 1:23; Jer 7:6; 22:3; Zech 7:10 3 5:28 Lit judge A 5:29 Jer 5:9; Mal 3:5 1 5:29 Or for these things A 5:30 Jer 23:14; Hos 6:10 A 5:31 Ezek 13:6 1 5:31 Lit over their own hands B 5:31 Mic 2:11