Jeremiah 5:25-31

25 iniquitates nostrae declinaverunt haec et peccata nostra prohibuerunt bonum a nobis

26 quia inventi sunt in populo meo impii insidiantes quasi aucupes laqueos ponentes et pedicas ad capiendos viros

27 sicut decipula plena avibus sic domus eorum plenae dolo ideo magnificati sunt et ditati

28 incrassati sunt et inpinguati et praeterierunt sermones meos pessime causam non iudicaverunt causam pupilli non direxerunt et iudicium pauperum non iudicaverunt

29 numquid super his non visitabo dicit Dominus aut super gentem huiuscemodi non ulciscetur anima mea

30 stupor et mirabilia facta sunt in terra

31 prophetae prophetabant mendacium et sacerdotes adplaudebant manibus suis et populus meus dilexit talia quid igitur fiet in novissimo eius

Jeremiah 5:25-31 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.