Jeremiah 5
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
5 Go about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man that executeth judgement, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto it.
2 And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely.
3 O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock, and they have refused to return.
4 But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God.
5 I will go therefore to the great men, and I will speak to them: for they known the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God: and behold these have together broken the yoke more, and have burst the bonds.
6 Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening, hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened.
7 How can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and rioted in the harlot's house.
8 They are become as amorous horses and stallions, every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things, sayeth the Lord? and shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?
10 Scale down the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because they are not the Lord's.
11 For the house of Israel, and the house of Juda have greatly transgressed against me, saith the Lord.
12 They have denied the Lord, and said, It is not he: and the evil shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine.
13 The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them.
14 Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold I will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as wood, and it shall devour them.
15 Behold I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all valiant.
17 And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons, and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks, and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards, and thy figs: and with the sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trustest.
18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction.
19 And if you shall say: why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? Thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own.
20 Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Juda, saying:
21 Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not.
22 Will not you then fear me, saith the Lord: and will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall not pass over it.
23 But the heart of this people is become hard of belief and provoking, they are revolted and gone away.
24 And they have not said in their heart: let us fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fullness of the yearly harvest.
25 Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men.
27 As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit: therefore are they become great and enriched.
28 They are grown gross and fat: and have most wickedly transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, they have not judged the judgement of the poor.
29 Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?
30 Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land.
31 The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof?
Jeremiah 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 5
Universal Corruption
1 Roam the streets of Jerusalem,
look about and observe,
Search through her squares,
to find even one
Who acts justly
and seeks honesty,
and I will pardon her!
2 They say, “As the Lord lives,”
but in fact they swear falsely.
3 Lord, do your eyes not search for honesty?
You struck them, but they did not flinch;
you laid them low, but they refused correction;
They set their faces harder than stone,
and refused to return.(A)
4 I thought: These are only the lowly,
they behave foolishly;
For they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.(B)
5 Let me go to the leaders
and speak with them;
For they must know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
But, one and all, they have broken the yoke,
torn off the harness.(C)
6 Therefore, lions from the forest slay them,
wolves of the desert ravage them,
Leopards keep watch round their cities:
all who come out are torn to pieces,
For their crimes are many,
their rebellions numerous.
7 Why should I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me,
they swear by gods that are no gods.
I fed them, but they commit adultery;
to the prostitute’s house they throng.
8 They are lustful stallions,
each neighs after the other’s wife.(D)
9 Should I not punish them for this?—oracle of the Lord;
on a nation like this should I not take vengeance?
10 Climb her terraces, and ravage them,
destroy them completely.
Tear away her tendrils,
they do not belong to the Lord.(E)
11 For they have openly rebelled against me,
both the house of Israel and the house of Judah—
oracle of the Lord.(F)
12 They denied the Lord,[a]
saying, “He is nothing,
No evil shall come to us,
neither sword nor famine shall we see.(G)
13 The prophets are wind,
and the word is not with them.
Let it be done to them!”
14 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,
because you have said this—
See! I make my words
a fire in your mouth,
And this people the wood
that it shall devour!—
15 Beware! I will bring against you
a nation from far away,
O House of Israel—oracle of the Lord;
A long-lived nation, an ancient nation,
a people whose language you do not know,
whose speech you cannot understand.(H)
16 Their quivers are like open graves;
all of them are warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your bread,
devour your sons and your daughters,
Devour your sheep and cattle,
devour your vines and fig trees;
With their swords they will beat down
the fortified cities in which you trust.(I)
18 Yet even in those days—oracle of the Lord—I will not completely destroy you.(J) 19 And when they ask, “Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?” say to them, “As you have abandoned me to serve foreign gods in your own land, so shall you serve foreigners in a land not your own.”
20 Announce this to the house of Jacob,
proclaim it in Judah:
21 Pay attention to this,
you foolish and senseless people,
Who have eyes and do not see,
who have ears and do not hear.(K)
22 Should you not fear me—oracle of the Lord—
should you not tremble before me?
I made the sandy shore the sea’s limit,
which by eternal decree it may not overstep.
Toss though it may, it is to no avail;
though its billows roar, they cannot overstep.(L)
23 But this people’s heart is stubborn and rebellious;
they turn and go away,
24 And do not say in their hearts,
“Let us fear the Lord, our God,
Who gives us rain
early and late,[b] in its time;
Who watches for us
over the appointed weeks of harvest.”(M)
25 Your crimes have prevented these things,
your sins have turned these blessings away from you.(N)
26 For criminals lurk among my people;
like fowlers they set traps,
but it is human beings they catch.(O)
27 Their houses are as full of treachery
as a bird-cage is of birds;
Therefore they grow powerful and rich,
28 fat and sleek.
They pass over wicked deeds;
justice they do not defend
By advancing the claim of the orphan
or judging the cause of the poor.(P)
29 Shall I not punish these things?—oracle of the Lord;
on a nation such as this shall I not take vengeance?
30 Something shocking and horrible
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests teach on their own authority;
Yet my people like it this way;
what will you do when the end comes?(Q)
Footnotes
- 5:12 They denied the Lord: the people act as though God does not matter and will not interfere.
- 5:24 Rain early and late: autumn and spring rains respectively. Appointed weeks of harvest: the seven weeks between the Passover (Dt 16:9–10) and the feast of Weeks (Pentecost), when it did not ordinarily rain.
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