Jeremiah 5-8
New American Standard Bible 1995
Jerusalem’s Godlessness
5 “(A)Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now and take note.
And seek in her open squares,
If you can (B)find a man,
(C)If there is one who does justice, who seeks [a]truth,
Then I will pardon her.
2 “And (D)although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’
Surely they swear falsely.”
3 O Lord, do not (E)Your eyes look for [b]truth?
You have (F)smitten them,
But they did not [c]weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they (G)refused to take correction.
They have (H)made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor,
They are foolish;
For they (I)do not know the way of the Lord
Or the ordinance of their God.
5 “I will go to the great
And will speak to them,
For (J)they know the way of the Lord
And the ordinance of their God.”
But they too, with one accord, have (K)broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
6 Therefore (L)a lion from the forest will slay them,
A (M)wolf of the deserts will destroy them,
A (N)leopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces,
Because their (O)transgressions are many,
Their apostasies are numerous.
7 “Why should I pardon you?
Your sons have forsaken Me
And (P)sworn by those who are (Q)not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
They (R)committed adultery
And trooped to the harlot’s house.
8 “They were well-fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing after his (S)neighbor’s wife.
9 “Shall I not punish [d]these people,” declares the Lord,
“And on a nation such as this
(T)Shall 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 (U)house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.
12 They have (V)lied about the Lord
And said, “[e](W)Not He;
Misfortune will (X)not come on us,
And we (Y)will not see sword or famine.
13 “The (Z)prophets 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 (AA)making My words in your mouth fire
And this people wood, and it will consume them.
15 “Behold, I am (AB)bringing 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 (AC)language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
16 “Their (AD)quiver is like an (AE)open grave,
All of them are mighty men.
17 “They will (AF)devour 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 (AG)vines and your fig trees;
They will demolish with the sword your (AH)fortified 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 (AI)when [f]they 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 (AJ)serve 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 [g]senseless people,
Who have (AK)eyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.
22 ‘Do you not (AL)fear Me?’ declares the Lord.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have (AM)placed 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 (AN)stubborn 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 (AO)gives rain in its season,
Both (AP)the autumn rain and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The (AQ)appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 ‘Your (AR)iniquities have turned these away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 ‘For wicked men are found among My people,
They (AS)watch like fowlers [h]lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch men.
27 ‘Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of (AT)deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 ‘They are (AU)fat, they are sleek,
They also [i]excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the [j](AV)orphan, that they may prosper;
And they do not [k]defend the rights of the poor.
29 ‘(AW)Shall I not punish [l]these people?’ declares the Lord,
‘On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?’
30 “An appalling and (AX)horrible thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The (AY)prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule [m]on their own authority;
And My people (AZ)love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?
Destruction of Jerusalem Impending
6 “Flee for safety, O sons of (BA)Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a signal over [n](BB)Beth-haccerem;
For evil looks down from the (BC)north,
And a great destruction.
2 “The comely and (BD)dainty one, (BE)the daughter of Zion, I will cut off.
3 “(BF)Shepherds and their flocks will come to her,
They will (BG)pitch their tents [o]around her,
They will pasture each in his [p]place.
4 “[q](BH)Prepare war against her;
Arise, and let us [r]attack at (BI)noon.
Woe to us, for the day declines,
For the shadows of the evening lengthen!
5 “Arise, and let us [s]attack by night
And (BJ)destroy her [t]palaces!”
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts,
“(BK)Cut down her trees
And cast up a (BL)siege against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished,
In whose midst there is only (BM)oppression.
7 “(BN)As a well [u]keeps its waters fresh,
So she [v]keeps fresh her wickedness.
(BO)Violence and destruction are heard in her;
(BP)Sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
8 “(BQ)Be warned, O Jerusalem,
Or [w](BR)I shall be alienated from you,
And make you a desolation,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“They will (BS)thoroughly glean as the vine the (BT)remnant of Israel;
Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer
Over the branches.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning
That they may hear?
Behold, their (BU)ears are [x]closed
And they cannot listen.
Behold, (BV)the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 But I am (BW)full of the wrath of the Lord;
I am (BX)weary with holding it in.
“(BY)Pour it out on the children in the street
And on the [y]gathering of young men together;
For both husband and wife shall be taken,
The aged [z]and the very old.
12 “Their (BZ)houses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together;
For I will (CA)stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord.
13 “For (CB)from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is (CC)greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone [aa]deals falsely.
14 “They have (CD)healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
15 “Were they (CE)ashamed because of the abomination they have done?
They were not even ashamed at all;
They did not even know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the (CF)ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And (CG)you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 “And I set (CH)watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 “Therefore hear, O nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 “(CI)Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The (CJ)fruit of their [ab]plans,
Because they have not listened to My words,
And as for My law, they have (CK)rejected it also.
20 “(CL)For what purpose does (CM)frankincense come to Me from Sheba
And the [ac](CN)sweet cane from a distant land?
(CO)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“Behold, (CP)I am [ad]laying stumbling blocks before this people.
And they will stumble against them,
(CQ)Fathers and sons together;
Neighbor and [ae]friend will perish.”
The Enemy from the North
22 Thus says the Lord,
“Behold, (CR)a people is coming from the north land,
And a great nation will be aroused from the (CS)remote parts of the earth.
23 “They seize (CT)bow and spear;
They are (CU)cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice (CV)roars like the sea,
And they ride on horses,
Arrayed as a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have (CW)heard the report of it;
Our hands are limp.
(CX)Anguish has seized us,
Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
25 (CY)Do not go out into the field
And (CZ)do not walk on the road,
For the enemy has a sword,
(DA)Terror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, (DB)put on sackcloth
And (DC)roll in ashes;
[af](DD)Mourn as for an only son,
A lamentation most bitter.
For suddenly the destroyer
Will come upon us.
27 “I have (DE)made you an assayer and a tester among My people,
That you may know and assay their way.”
28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious,
(DF)Going about as a talebearer.
They are (DG)bronze and iron;
They, all of them, are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the (DH)wicked are not [ag]separated.
30 (DI)They call them rejected silver,
Because the (DJ)Lord has rejected them.
Message at the Temple Gate
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “(DK)Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’” 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “(DL)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 (DM)Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘[ah]This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 For (DN)if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly (DO)practice justice between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the [ai](DP)orphan, or the widow, and do not shed (DQ)innocent blood in this place, nor (DR)walk after other gods to your own ruin, 7 then I will let you (DS)dwell in this place, in the (DT)land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you are trusting in (DU)deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and [aj](DV)offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after (DW)other gods that you have not known, 10 then (DX)come and stand before Me in (DY)this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations? 11 Has (DZ)this house, which is called by My name, become a (EA)den of robbers in your sight? Behold, (EB)I, even I, have seen it,” declares the Lord.
12 “But go now to My place which was in (EC)Shiloh, where I (ED)made My name dwell at the first, and (EE)see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, (EF)rising up early and (EG)speaking, but you did not hear, and I (EH)called you but you did not answer, 14 therefore, I will do to the (EI)house which is called by My name, (EJ)in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I (EK)did to Shiloh. 15 I will (EL)cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the [ak]offspring of (EM)Ephraim.
16 “As for you, (EN)do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The [al]children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they (EO)pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to (EP)spite Me. 19 (EQ)Do they spite Me?” declares the Lord. “Is it not themselves they spite, to [am]their own (ER)shame?” 20 Therefore thus says the Lord [an]God, “Behold, My (ES)anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the (ET)trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your (EU)burnt offerings to your sacrifices and (EV)eat flesh. 22 For I did not (EW)speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is [ao]what I commanded them, saying, ‘(EX)Obey My voice, and (EY)I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may (EZ)be well with you.’ 24 Yet they (FA)did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and [ap](FB)went backward and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have (FC)sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them. 26 Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but (FD)stiffened their neck; they (FE)did more evil than their fathers.
27 “You shall (FF)speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will (FG)not answer you. 28 You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that (FH)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; [aq](FI)truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.
29 ‘(FJ)Cut off [ar]your hair and cast it away,
And (FK)take up a lamentation on the bare heights;
For the Lord has (FL)rejected and forsaken
The generation of His wrath.’
30 For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord, “they have (FM)set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 They have (FN)built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to (FO)burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I (FP)did not command, and it did not come into My [as]mind.
32 “(FQ)Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will (FR)bury in Topheth [at]because there is no other place. 33 The (FS)dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. 34 Then I will make to (FT)cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the (FU)land will become a ruin.
The Sin and Treachery of Judah
8 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “they will (FV)bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. 2 They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and to all the (FW)host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have gone after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered (FX)or buried; (FY)they will be as dung on the face of the ground. 3 And (FZ)death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the (GA)places to which I have driven them,” declares the Lord of hosts.
4 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“Do men (GB)fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not [au]repent?
5 “Why then has this people, Jerusalem,
(GC)Turned away in continual apostasy?
They (GD)hold fast to deceit,
They (GE)refuse to return.
6 “I (GF)have listened and heard,
They have spoken what is not right;
(GG)No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his course,
Like a (GH)horse charging into the battle.
7 “Even the stork in the sky
(GI)Knows her seasons;
And the (GJ)turtledove and the swift and the thrush
Observe the time of their [av]migration;
But (GK)My people do not know
The ordinance of the Lord.
8 “(GL)How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
Has made it into a lie.
9 “The wise men are (GM)put to shame,
They are dismayed and caught;
Behold, they have (GN)rejected the word of the Lord,
And what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 “Therefore I will (GO)give their wives to others,
Their fields to [aw]new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is (GP)greedy for gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit.
11 “They (GQ)heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
12 “Were they (GR)ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They certainly were not ashamed,
And they did not know how to blush;
Therefore they shall (GS)fall among those who fall;
At the (GT)time of their punishment they shall be brought down,”
Says the Lord.
13 “I will (GU)surely snatch them away,” declares the Lord;
“There will be (GV)no grapes on the vine
And (GW)no figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf will wither;
And what I have given them will pass away.”’”
14 Why are we sitting still?
(GX)Assemble yourselves, and let us (GY)go into the fortified cities
And let us perish there,
Because the Lord our God has doomed us
And given us (GZ)poisoned water to drink,
For (HA)we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We (HB)waited for peace, but no good came;
For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16 From (HC)Dan is heard the snorting of his horses;
At the sound of the neighing of his (HD)stallions
The whole land quakes;
For they come and (HE)devour the land and its fullness,
The city and its inhabitants.
17 “For behold, I am (HF)sending serpents against you,
Adders, for which there is (HG)no charm,
And they will bite you,” declares the Lord.
18 [ax]My (HH)sorrow is beyond healing,
My (HI)heart is faint within me!
19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a (HJ)distant land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why have they (HK)provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign [ay](HL)idols?”
20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended,
And we are not saved.”
21 For the (HM)brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;
I (HN)mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no (HO)balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
(HP)Why then has not the [az]health of the daughter of my people [ba]been restored?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:1 Lit faithfulness
- Jeremiah 5:3 Lit faithfulness
- Jeremiah 5:3 Or become sick
- Jeremiah 5:9 Or for these things
- Jeremiah 5:12 Lit He is not
- Jeremiah 5:19 Or you
- Jeremiah 5:21 Lit without heart
- Jeremiah 5:26 Perhaps, crouching down
- Jeremiah 5:28 Lit pass over, or, overlook deeds
- Jeremiah 5:28 Or fatherless
- Jeremiah 5:28 Lit judge
- Jeremiah 5:29 Or for these things
- Jeremiah 5:31 Lit over their own hands
- Jeremiah 6:1 I.e. house of the vineyard
- Jeremiah 6:3 Lit against her round about
- Jeremiah 6:3 Lit hand
- Jeremiah 6:4 Lit Sanctify
- Jeremiah 6:4 Lit go up
- Jeremiah 6:5 Lit go up
- Jeremiah 6:5 Or fortified towers
- Jeremiah 6:7 Lit keeps cold
- Jeremiah 6:7 Lit keeps cold
- Jeremiah 6:8 Lit my soul
- Jeremiah 6:10 Lit uncircumcised
- Jeremiah 6:11 Lit council
- Jeremiah 6:11 Lit with fullness of days
- Jeremiah 6:13 Or makes lies
- Jeremiah 6:19 Or devices
- Jeremiah 6:20 Lit good
- Jeremiah 6:21 Lit giving
- Jeremiah 6:21 Lit his friend
- Jeremiah 6:26 Lit Make for yourself mourning
- Jeremiah 6:29 Or drawn off
- Jeremiah 7:4 Lit They are
- Jeremiah 7:6 Or fatherless
- Jeremiah 7:9 Or burn incense
- Jeremiah 7:15 Lit seed
- Jeremiah 7:18 Lit sons
- Jeremiah 7:19 Lit their faces’
- Jeremiah 7:20 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Jeremiah 7:23 Lit the word which
- Jeremiah 7:24 Lit they were
- Jeremiah 7:28 Lit faithfulness
- Jeremiah 7:29 Lit your crown
- Jeremiah 7:31 Lit heart
- Jeremiah 7:32 Or until there is no place left
- Jeremiah 8:4 Lit turn back
- Jeremiah 8:7 Lit coming
- Jeremiah 8:10 Lit possessing ones
- Jeremiah 8:18 So Gr and versions
- Jeremiah 8:19 Lit vanities
- Jeremiah 8:22 Or healing
- Jeremiah 8:22 Lit gone up
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
