Jeremiah 5
The Sins of Jerusalem
and Judah |
1 |
Run ye to and fro through the streets of
Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places
thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth
judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
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2 |
And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
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3 |
O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they
have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have
refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder
than a rock; they have refused to return.
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4 |
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the
LORD, nor the judgment of their
God.
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5 |
I will get me unto the great men, and
will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these
have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the
bonds.
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6 |
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall
slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a
leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out
thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are
many, and their backslidings are increased.
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7 |
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy
children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no
gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery,
and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
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8 |
They were as fed horses in the
morning: every one neighed after his neighbor's wife.
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9 |
Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
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10 |
Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy;
but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.
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11 |
For the house of Israel and the house of
Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
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12 |
They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall
evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
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13 |
and the prophets shall become wind, and
the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto
them.
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14 |
Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold,
I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it
shall devour them.
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15 |
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from
far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation
whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they
say.
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16 |
Their quiver is as an open
sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
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17 |
And they shall eat up thine harvest and
thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they
shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines
and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein
thou trustedst, with the sword.
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18 |
Nevertheless in those days, saith the
LORD, I will not make a full end with
you.
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19 |
And it shall come to pass, when ye shall
say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have
forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve
strangers in a land that is not yours.
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20 |
Declare this in the house of Jacob, and
publish it in Judah, saying,
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21 |
Hear now this, O foolish people, and
without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have
ears, and hear not: Is. 6.9, 10 · Ezek. 12.2 · Mk. 8.18
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22 |
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have
placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss
themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they
not pass over it Job. 38.8-11 ?
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23 |
But this people hath a revolting and a
rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
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24 |
Neither say they in their heart, Let us
now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain,
both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us
the appointed weeks of the harvest.
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25 |
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from
you.
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26 |
For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a
trap, they catch men.
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27 |
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and
waxen rich.
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28 |
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they
overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the
cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the
needy do they not judge.
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29 |
Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
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30 |
A wonderful and horrible thing is
committed in the land;
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31 |
the prophets prophesy falsely, and the
priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have
it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?
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