Jeremiah 5:14-31

English Standard Version

The Lord Proclaims Judgment

¹⁴Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, ^(A)I am making my words in your mouth ^(B)a fire,
    and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
¹⁵^(C)Behold, I am bringing against you
    a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
    it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
    ^(D)nor can you understand what they say.
¹⁶^(E)Their quiver is like ^(F)an open tomb;
    they are all mighty warriors.
¹⁷^(G)They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
    they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
    they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your ^(H)fortified cities in which you trust
    they shall beat down with the sword.”

¹⁸“But even in those days, declares the Lord, ^(I)I will not make a full end of you. ¹⁹And when your people say, ^(J)‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, ^(K)so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”

²⁰Declare this in the house of Jacob;
    proclaim it in Judah:
²¹“Hear this, ^(L)O foolish and senseless people,
    ^(M)who have eyes, but see not,
    who have ears, but hear not.
²²^(N)Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
    Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand ^(O)as the boundary for the sea,
    a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
    though ^(P)they roar, they cannot pass over it.
²³^(Q)But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
    they have turned aside and gone away.
²⁴They do not say in their hearts,
    ‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
^(R)who gives the rain in its season,
    the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
    ^(S)the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
²⁵^(T)Your iniquities have turned these away,
    and your sins have kept good from you.
²⁶For wicked men are found among my people;
    ^(U)they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.^[a]
^(V)They set a trap;
    they catch men.
²⁷Like a cage full of birds,
    their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
²⁸    ^(W)they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
    ^(X)they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
    and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
²⁹^(Y)Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?”

³⁰An appalling and ^(Z)horrible thing
    has happened in the land:
³¹^(AA)the prophets prophesy falsely,
    and the priests rule at their direction;
^(AB)my people love to have it so,
    but what will you do when the end comes?