Jeremiah 5

Scout every street,
Every hidden corner of Jerusalem.
If you can find one person
Who’s honest and fair,
I’ll forgive the entire city. [1]
2They make promises in my name,
Swearing by “the living LORD.” [2]
But they break those promises
And lie when they swear like that.
3LORD, you want to see honest people,
So, you hit Judah hard, to punish them.
But it didn’t make a difference.
You overwhelmed them with pain,
But they stuck with “stubborn.”
They still stand against you,
Stubborn as a rock.

I said, “Wait a minute.
These are poor people.
They don’t know your laws
Or what you expect.
5Let me go to rich people who know better.
They’ll know your laws, LORD.”
But I was wrong,
They had broken the laws, too.
6Now they have to die. [3]
A lion kills people near the forest.
A wolf kills those in the desert.
And a leopard prowls the city,
And tears those citizens to pieces.
The people will die for their huge sins.

How can I forgive you?
You’ve turned your back on me
And walked away.
Now you’re devoted to idols,
Fake gods who don’t exist.
I gave you all you needed in life.
But now you commit adultery.
You’ve traded in your love for me
And satisfied yourselves with hookers. [4]
8You’re like pampered stallions
With nothing but fillies on your mind.
You want sex anywhere you can get it.
9Shouldn’t I punish them for this?
Shouldn’t the LORD make them pay—
A nation as bad as this?
10“Do it. Walk the vine rows.
Tear it up and strip the branches.
But don’t destroy the entire vineyard.
This is not the LORD’s vineyard anymore.

This is the LORD talking,
And I’m telling you that Israel and Judah
Have cheated on me every way they know how.
12They know so little about me that they say,
‘He’s not gonna do anything.
He’s not gonna hurt us
With famine or swords.’
13Prophets don’t speak for me anymore.
They blow hot air.
But what they wish on others
They’ll get for themselves.”

These words come from the LORD God of everyone:
“Because of what these people said.
I’m going to treat them like a wood pile,
And I’m going to fill your mouth with fireballs,
Words that will consume them.
15I’m going to clobber you, Israel.
I’m the LORD
And I’m sending a faraway nation to do it.
It’s an ancient nation, here to stay, and foreign to you.
You don’t know their language.
So, you won’t understand what they say.
16Their soldiers are powerful.
And they’re coming to kill you.
17They will eat your food, flocks, and herds,
Take your children,
Drink your wine, and feast on your figs.
Then they’ll destroy those walled cities
You trusted to protect you.

20Give this message to descendants of Jacob. [5]
Spread the word throughout Judah:
21Listen to me you nutcases. [6]
You have eyes, but you’re not looking.
You have ears, but you’re not listening.
22I’m the LORD.
Aren’t you even a little bit afraid
Of what I can do to you?
Why aren’t you trembling?
I put sand by the oceans
To hold back the sea.
Waves rise and strike
But they don’t reach you.
23You’re stubborn and rebellious to the bone.
You showed me your back and walked away.
24It doesn’t occur to you to say,
“Let’s respect God and his power.
For in the rainy seasons he lets it pour—
After autumn harvest,
Before springtime planting.
We harvest crops because of him.”

No more. You’ll lose your harvest
Because of your sins.
26The wicked have embedded themselves
Among my people.
They target their marks
Then they strike, enslave, and kill.
27These wicked people get rich
By surrounding themselves with as much treachery
As a bird merchant has birds caged in his store.
28These people are overfed and too rich.
When it comes to evil,
They have no limit.
When it comes to helping the orphans,
Or defending the poor,
They don’t know where to start.
They can’t find a spark of justice.
29Shouldn’t I punish them for this?
Shouldn’t the LORD make them pay—
A nation as bad as this?
30What this nation has become
Is appalling and wretched.
31Prophets here are fakes,
Yet priests do whatever they say.
And the country loves it this way.
But, people, what are you going to do
When your journey away from me
Takes you to your dead end?