Jeremiah 5:1-13 ▼

1 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 doeth justly, that seeketh truth; And I will pardon her.

2 And though they say: 'As the LORD liveth', Surely they swear falsely.

3 O LORD, are not Thine eyes upon truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they were not affected; Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; They have made their faces harder than a rock; They have refused to return.

4 And I said: 'Surely these are poor, They are foolish, for they know not the way of the LORD, Nor the ordinance of their God;

5 I will get me unto the great men, And will speak unto them; For they know the way of the LORD, And the ordinance of their God.' But these had altogether broken the yoke, And burst the bands.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest doth slay them, A wolf of the deserts doth spoil them, A leopard watcheth over their cities, Every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces; Because their transgressions are many, Their backslidings are increased.

7 Wherefore should I pardon thee? The children have forsaken Me, And sworn by no-gods; And when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, And assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses.

8 They are become as well-fed horses, lusty stallions; Every one neigheth after his neighbour's wife.

9 Shall I not punish for these things? Saith the LORD; And shall not My soul be avenged On such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up into her rows, and destroy, But make not a full end; Take away her shoots; For they are not the LORD'S.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously against Me, Saith the LORD.

12 They have belied the LORD, And said: 'It is not He, Neither shall evil come upon us; Neither shall we see sword nor famine;

13 And the prophets shall become wind, And the word is not in them; Thus be it done unto them.'