Jeremiah 5:19-29

19 When the people of Judah ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these terrible things to us?' then give them this answer: 'You have left the Lord and served foreign idols in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.'

20 "Announce this message to the family of Jacob, and tell it to the nation of Judah:

21 Hear this message, you foolish people who have no sense. They have eyes, but they don't really see. They have ears, but they don't really listen.

22 Surely you are afraid of me," says the Lord. "You should shake with fear in my presence. I am the one who made the beaches to be a border for the sea, a border the water can never go past. The waves may pound the beach, but they can't win over it. They may roar, but they cannot go beyond it.

23 But the people of Judah are stubborn and have turned against me. They have turned aside and gone away from me.

24 They do not say to themselves, 'We should fear the Lord our God, who gives us autumn and spring rains in their seasons, who makes sure we have the harvest at the right time.'

25 But your evil has kept away both rain and harvest. Your sins have kept you from enjoying good things.

26 There are wicked men among my people. Like those who make nets for catching birds, they set their traps to catch people.

27 Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of lies. They have become rich and powerful.

28 They have grown big and fat. There is no end to the evil things they do. They won't plead the case of the orphan or help the poor be judged fairly.

29 Shouldn't I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?" says the Lord. "Shouldn't I give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves?

Jeremiah 5:19-29 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.