THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 5 ©
A complaint of the sad and fearful condition of Jerusalem and Judah; as that there were no more godly men to be found among small and great, vs. 1, 4, 5. That all gross sins were rife among them, as false and hypocritical makings of oaths, 2. Obstinacy and hardness of heart, 3, 21, 22, 23, 24. Idolatry, 7, 19. Adultery and whoredom, 7, 8. Contempt of God’s Word and of His prophets, 11, 12, 13. Riches gotten by wicked and thievish devices, 26, 27. Injustice in judgment, 28. Prevailing of false prophets, and wicked priests, 31. For all which sins God threatens to punish them by the Chaldeans, 9, 14, 15, etc. Yet without destroying them utterly, 10, 18.
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 1truth; and I will pardon 2it.
And though they 3say, The LORD liveth; 4surely they swear falsely.
O LORD, 5are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast 6strickena them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction:b they have made their faces 7harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Therefore I 8said, Surely these are 9poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
10I 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 11yoke, and burst the bonds.
Wherefore a lionc out of the forest 12shall slay them, and a wolf 13of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be 14torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
¶How shall I pardon 15thee 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.
They weredas fed horses in the morning: every one 16neighed after his neighbour's wife.
Shalle I not 17visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
¶ 18Go ye up upon 19her walls, and destroy; but make notf a full 20end: take away her 21battlements; for 22they are not the LORD's.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt 23very treacherouslyg against me, saith the LORD.
They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not 24he; neither shallh evil come upon us; neither shall we 25see sword nor famine:
And the 26prophets shall become 27wind, and the 28word is not in them: 29thus shall it be done unto them.
Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of 30hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will 31make myi words in 32thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from 33far,j O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a 34mighty nation, it is an 35ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither 36understandest what they say.
37Their quiver is as an 38open sepulchre, 39they are all mighty men.
And 40they shall eat up thine harvest,k and thy bread, which 41thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy 42flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up 43thy vines and thy fig trees: 44they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will notl make a full 45end with you.
¶And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Whereforem doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou 46answer 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.
Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Hearn now this, O 47foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the boundo 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?
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, bothp the 48former and the latter, 49in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed 50weeks of the harvest.
¶Your iniquities have turned away 51these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
For among my people are found wicked men: 52they lay wait, as he that 53setteth snares; they set a 54trap, they catch men.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen 55rich.
Theyq are waxen 56fat, they shine: yea, 57they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause,r the cause of the fatherless, yet they 58prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Shalls I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
¶A wonderful and 59horrible thing is committed in the land;
The 60prophets prophesy 61falsely,t and the priests bear rule by 62their means; and my people 63love to have it so: and what will ye do in the 64end thereof?