Jeremiah 5:1-11

1 Compass ye the ways of Jerusalem, and look, and behold ye, and seek ye in the streets thereof, whether ye find a man doing doom, and seeking faith; and I shall be merciful to them. (Go ye about the ways of Jerusalem, and look, and behold ye, and seek ye in its streets, whether ye can find anyone doing justice, and seeking faith; and I shall be merciful to them.)

2 That if also they say, The Lord liveth, yea, they shall swear this falsely. (But even if they say, As the Lord liveth, yea, they shall swear this falsely.)

3 Lord, thine eyes behold faith; thou hast smitten them, and they made not sorrow; thou hast all-broken them, and they forsook to take chastising; they made their faces harder than a stone, and would not turn again. (Lord, thine eyes look for faithfulness; thou hast struck them, but they did not have sorrow; thou hast all-broken them, but they refused to accept their discipline, or their correction; they made their faces harder than a stone, and would not return to thee.)

4 Forsooth I said, In hap they be poor men, and fools, that know not the way of the Lord, and the doom of their God. (And I said, Perhaps they be the poor, and the foolish, and they do not know the way of the Lord, and the judgement, or the justice, of their God.)

5 Therefore I shall go to the principal men, and I shall speak to them; for they knew the way of the Lord, and the doom of their God. And lo! they have more broken together the yoke, and have broken [the] bonds. (And so I shall go to the principal men, or to the leaders, and I shall speak to them; for they knew the way of the Lord, and the judgement, or the justice, of their God. But lo! they also have altogether broken the yoke, and have broken their bonds.)

6 Therefore a lion of the wood smote them; a wolf at eventide wasted them, a leopard watching on the cities of them. Each man that goeth out of them, shall be taken; for the trespassings of them be multiplied, the turnings away of them be comforted (Each person who goeth out of them, shall be taken, or shall be torn apart; for their trespassings be multiplied, their turnings away be increased).

7 On what thing may I be merciful to thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and swear by them that be not gods. I [full-]filled them, and they did adultery, and in the house of an whore they did lechery. (For what thing can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have deserted me, and swear by those that be not gods. I filled them full, and they still did adultery, that is, idolatry, yea, they still did lechery in a whorehouse.)

8 They be made horses, and stallions, lovers to women (lovers of women); each man neighed to the wife of his neighbour.

9 Whether I shall not visit on these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul take vengeance on such a folk? (Shall I not punish them for these things? saith the Lord, and shall not my soul take vengeance on such a nation?)

10 Go ye up on the walls thereof, and destroy ye; but do not ye make an ending. Do ye away the scions thereof, for they be not servants of the Lord.

11 For why the house of Israel and the house of Judah hath trespassed by trespassing against me, saith the Lord; (Because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have trespassed by trespassing against me, saith the Lord;)

Jeremiah 5:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 5

This chapter contains a further account of the destruction of the Jews by the Chaldeans, and the causes of it, the sins of the people, as want of justice and truth; being so corrupt, that a just and faithful man was not to be found among them; could there, the city would have been pardoned for his sake, Jer 5:1, their swearing falsely by the name of the Lord, Jer 5:2, their incorrigibleness by chastisements, which was the case not only of the lower, but higher rank of people, Jer 5:3-5, wherefore the enemy, who for his cruelty is compared to a lion, a wolf, and a leopard, is threatened to be let in among them, Jer 5:6, then other sins are mentioned as the cause of it, as idolatry and adultery, Jer 5:7-9 hence the enemy has a commission to scale their walls, take away their battlements, though not to make a full end, the Lord disowning them for his, Jer 5:10, because of their perfidy against him, their belying of him, contradicting what he had said, and despising the word sent by his prophets, Jer 5:11-13, wherefore it is threatened, that his word like fire should devour them; and that a distant, mighty, and ancient nation, of a foreign speech, should invade them; who, like an open sepulchre, would devour them, and eat up the increase of their fields, vineyards, flocks, and herds, and impoverish their cities, yet not make a full end of them, Jer 5:14-18, and in just retaliation should they serve strangers in a foreign country, who had served strange gods in their own, Jer 5:19 then a declaration is published, and an expostulation is made with them, who are represented as foolish, ignorant, and blind, that they would fear the Lord; which is pressed by arguments taken from the power of God, in restraining the sea, which had no effect upon them; and from the goodness of God, in giving the former and latter rain, and the appointed weeks of the harvest, which their sins turned away and withheld from them, Jer 5:20-25, and then other sins are mentioned as the cause of God's visiting them in a way of vengeance, as the defrauding of men in trade, and the oppression of the fatherless and the poor in judgment; and false prophesying, to the advantage of the priests, and the king of the people, Jer 5:26-31.