Jeremiah 5:17-27

17 "They will ¹devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your ²vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your ³fortified cities in which you trust.

18 "Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not make you a complete destruction.

19 "It shall come about ⁴when they say, 'Why * has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' then you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will ⁵serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

20 "Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21 'Now hear this, O foolish and senseless * people, Who have ⁶eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.

22 'Do you not ⁷fear Me?' declares the LORD. 'Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have ⁸placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

23 'But this people has a ⁹stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

24 'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who ¹⁰gives rain in its season, Both ¹¹the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The ¹²appointed weeks of the harvest."

25 'Your ¹³iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.

26 'For wicked men are found among My people, They ¹⁴watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

27 'Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of ¹⁵deceit; Therefore * they have become great and rich.

Jeremiah 5:17-27 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.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:31, 33; Jeremiah 8:16; Jeremiah 50:7, 17
• 2. Jeremiah 8:13
• 3. Hosea 8:14
• 4. Deuteronomy 29:24-26; 1 Kings 9:8, 9; Jeremiah 13:22; Jeremiah 16:10-13
• 5. Deuteronomy 28:48; Jeremiah 16:13
• 6. Isaiah 6:9; Isaiah 43:8; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:14; Mark 8:18; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Romans 11:8
• 7. Deuteronomy 28:58; Psalms 119:120; Jeremiah 2:19; Jeremiah 10:7; Revelation 15:4
• 8. Job 38:8-11; Psalms 104:9; Proverbs 8:29
• 9. Deuteronomy 21:18; Psalms 78:8; Jeremiah 4:17; Jeremiah 6:28
• 10. Psalms 147:8; Jeremiah 3:3; Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17
• 11. Joel 2:23
• 12. Genesis 8:22
• 13. Jeremiah 2:17; Jeremiah 4:18
• 14. Psalms 10:9; Proverbs 1:11; Jeremiah 18:22; Habakkuk 1:15
• 15. Jeremiah 9:6

Footnotes

• [a] Or "you"
• [b] Lit "without heart"
• [c] Perhaps, "crouching down"