Jeremiah:5

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* "Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem , and see now , and know , and seek in the broad places of it , if you can find a man , if there are any who does justly , who seeks truth ; and I will pardon her . * Though they say , 'As Yahweh lives ;' surely they swear falsely ." * O Yahweh , don 't your eyes look on truth ? You have stricken them , but they were not grieved . You have consumed them , but they have refused to receive correction . They have made their faces harder than a rock . They have refused to return . * Then I said , "Surely these are poor . They are foolish ; for they don 't know the way of Yahweh , nor the law of their God . * I will go to the great men , and will speak to them ; for they know the way of Yahweh , and the law of their God ." But these with one accord have broken the yoke , and burst the bonds . * Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them , a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them , a leopard shall watch against their cities ; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces ; because their transgressions are many , and their backsliding is increased . * "How can I pardon you ? Your children have forsaken me , and sworn by what are no gods . When I had fed them to the full , they committed adultery , and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes ' houses . * They were as fed horses roaming at large : everyone neighed after his neighbor 's wife . * Shouldn 't I punish them for these things ?" says Yahweh ; "and shouldn 't my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * "Go up on her walls , and destroy ; but don 't make a full end . Take away her branches ; for they are not Yahweh 's . * For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me ," says Yahweh . * They have denied Yahweh , and said , "It is not he ; neither shall evil come on us ; neither shall we see sword nor famine . * The prophets shall become wind , and the word is not in them . Thus shall it be done to them ." * Therefore thus says Yahweh , the God of Armies , "Because you speak this word , behold , I will make my words in your mouth fire , and this people wood , and it shall devour them . * Behold , I will bring a nation on you from far , house of Israel ," says Yahweh . "It is a mighty nation . It is an ancient nation , a nation whose language you don 't know , neither understand what they say . * Their quiver is an open tomb , they are all mighty men . * They shall eat up your harvest , and your bread , which your sons and your daughters should eat . They shall eat up your flocks and your herds . They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees . They shall beat down your fortified cities , in which you trust , with the sword . * "But even in those days ," says Yahweh , "I will not make a full end with you . * It will happen , when you say , 'Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us ?' Then you shall say to them , 'Just like you have forsaken me , and served foreign gods in your land , so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours .' * "Declare this in the house of Jacob , and publish it in Judah , saying , * 'Hear now this , foolish people , and without understanding ; who have eyes , and don 't see ; who have ears , and don 't hear : * Don 't you fear me ?' says Yahweh 'Won 't you tremble at my presence , who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea , by a perpetual decree , that it can 't pass it ? and though its waves toss themselves , yet they can 't prevail ; though they roar , yet they can 't pass over it .' * "But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart ; they have revolted and gone . * Neither do they say in their heart , 'Let us now fear Yahweh our God , who gives rain , both the former and the latter , in its season ; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest .' * "Your iniquities have turned away these things , and your sins have withheld good from you . * For among my people are found wicked men . They watch , as fowlers lie in wait . They set a trap . They catch men . * As a cage is full of birds , so are their houses full of deceit . Therefore they have become great , and grew rich . * They have grown fat . They shine ; yes , they excell in deeds of wickedness . They don 't plead the cause , the cause of the fatherless , that they may prosper ; and they don 't judge the right of the needy . * "Shall I not punish for these things ?" says Yahweh . "Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * "An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land . * The prophets prophesy falsely , and the priests rule by their own authority ; and my people love to have it so . What will you do in the end of it ?

---