Parallel Bible results for "jeremiah 5"

Jeremiah 5

New Living Translation NLT

1 “Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD . “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.

2 But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!”

3 LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.

4 Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the LORD . They don’t understand God’s laws.

5 So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the LORD and understand God’s laws.” But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God’s yoke and broken his chains.

6 So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

7 “How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.

8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.

9 Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD . “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

10 “Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the LORD .

11 The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD .

12 “They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.

13 God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”

14 Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.

15 O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,” says the LORD . “It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.

16 Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.

17 They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.

18 “Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD .

19 “And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’

20 “Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah:

21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.

22 Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

23 But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.

24 They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’

25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

26 “Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.

27 Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.

28 They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.

29 Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD . “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land—

31 the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 "Roam the streets of Yerushalayim look around, observe and ask in its open spaces: if you can find anyone (if there is anyone!) who acts with justice and seeks the truth, I will pardon her.

2 And though they say, 'As ADONAI lives,' the fact is that they are swearing falsely."

3 ADONAI, your eyes look for truth. You struck them, but they weren't affected; you [nearly] destroyed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than rock, refusing to repent.

4 My reaction was, "These must be the poor, the foolish, not knowing the way of ADONAI or the rulings of their God.

5 I will go to the prominent men, and I will speak to them; for they know the way of ADONAI and the rulings of their God." But these had completely broken the yoke and torn the harness off.

6 This is why a forest lion kills them, why a desert wolf can plunder them, why a leopard guards their cities - all who leave are torn to pieces - because their crimes are many, their backslidings keep increasing.

7 "Why should I forgive you? Your people have abandoned me and sworn by non-gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery, thronging to the brothels.

8 They have become like well-fed horses, lusty stallions, each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

9 Should I not punish for this?" asks ADONAI. "Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?"

10 Go through her rows [of vines], and destroy them (but don't destroy them completely): strip away her branches, they do not belong to ADONAI.

11 "For the house of Isra'el and the house of Y'hudah have thoroughly betrayed me," says ADONAI.

12 They have denied ADONAI, they have said, "He won't do anything, calamity will not strike us, we will see neither sword nor famine.

13 The prophets are merely wind, they do not have the word; the things that they are predicting will happen only to them."

14 Therefore ADONAI Elohei-Tzva'ot says: "Because you people speak this way, I will make my words fire in your mouth, [Yirmeyahu,] and this people wood; so that it will devour them.

15 I will bring on you, house of Isra'el, a distant nation," says ADONAI, "an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know - you will not understand what they are saying.

16 Their quiver is like an open grave, they are all mighty warriors.

17 They will eat up your harvest and your bread, they will eat up your sons and your daughters, they will eat up your flocks and your herds, they will eat up your vines and your fig trees; with the sword they will beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust.

18 But even in those days," says ADONAI, "I will not completely destroy you.

19 And when your people ask, 'Why has ADONAI our God done all these things to us?' you are to give them this answer: 'Just as you abandoned me and served strange gods in your own land, so likewise you will serve strangers in a land that is not your own.'

20 Announce this in the house of Ya'akov, proclaim it in Y'hudah; say:

21 'Hear this, stupid, brainless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:

22 Don't you fear me? - says ADONAI. Won't you tremble at my presence? I made the shore the limit for the sea; by eternal decree it cannot pass. Its waves may toss, but to no avail; although they roar, they cannot cross it.

23 But this people has a rebellious, defiant heart; they have rebelled and gone!

24 They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear ADONAI our God, who gives the fall and spring rains in season, who reserves us the weeks assigned for harvest."

25 Your crimes have overturned nature's rules, your sins have kept back good from you.'

26 "For among my people there are wicked men, who, like fowlers, lie in wait and set traps to catch their fellow human beings.

27 Their houses are as full of fraud as a cage full of birds. They grow rich and great,

28 sleek and bloated; they excel in acts of wickedness but do not plead on behalf of the orphan, thus enabling his cause to succeed; nor do they judge in favor of the poor.

29 "Should I not punish for this?" asks ADONAI. "Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?

30 A shocking and horrifying thing has happened in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy lies, the cohanim obey the prophets, and my people love it that way. But what will you do at the end of it all?