Jeremiah 5:1-9 ▼

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?