Jeremiah 5

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 “Travel the streets of Jerusalem; and gaze, and consider, and seek, in its wide streets. If you can find a man exercising judgment and seeking faith, then I will be forgiving to them.	1 Roam the streets of Jerusalem, look about and observe, Search through her public places, to find even one Who lives uprightly and seeks to be faithful, and I will pardon her!
2 For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”	2 Though they say, "As the LORD lives," they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, your eyes look with favor upon faith. You have struck them, and they have not grieved. You have bruised them, and they have refused to accept discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, and they are not willing to return.	3 O LORD, do your eyes not look for honesty? You struck them, but they did not cringe; you laid them low, but they refused correction; They set their faces harder than stone, and refused to return to you.
4 But I said: Perhaps these are the poor and the senseless, who are ignorant of the way of the Lord, of the judgment of their God.	4 It is only the lowly, I thought, who are foolish; For they know not the way of the LORD, their duty to their God.
5 Therefore, I will go to great men, and I will speak with them. For they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. And behold, these ones have broken the yoke all the more; they have torn apart the bonds.	5 I will go to the great ones and speak with them; For they know the way of the LORD, their duty to their God. But, one and all, they had broken the yoke, torn off the harness.
6 For this reason, a lion from the forest has struck them down, a wolf toward evening has laid waste to them, a leopard lies in wait over their cities. All who go out from there will be taken. For their transgressions have been multiplied; their rebellions have been strengthened.	6 Therefore lions from the forest slay them, wolves of the desert ravage them, Leopards keep watch round their cities: all who come out are torn to pieces For their many crimes and their numerous rebellions.
7 “Over which things am I able to be merciful to you? Your sons have forsaken me, and they swear by those who are not gods. I gave them everything, and they committed adultery, and they indulged themselves in the house of the harlot.	7 Why should I pardon you these things? Your sons have forsaken me, they swear by gods that are not. I fed them, but they committed adultery; to the harlot's house they throng.
8 They have become like wild horses in heat; each one was neighing after his neighbor’s wife.	8 Lustful stallions they are, each neighs after another's wife.
9 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation such as this?	9 Shall I not punish them for these things? says the LORD; On a nation such as this shall I not take vengeance?
10 Scale its walls and tear them down. But do not be willing to bring about its very end. Take away its plantings, for they are not the Lord’s.	10 Climb to her terraces, and ravage them, destroy them (not) wholly. Tear away her tendrils, they do not belong to the LORD.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.	11 For they have openly rebelled against me, both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, says the LORD.
12 They have denied the Lord, and they have said, ‘It is not him,’ and, ‘Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see famine and the sword.’	12 They denied the LORD, saying, "Not he-- No evil shall befall us, neither sword nor famine shall we see.
13 The prophets have spoken into the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore, these things will happen to them.”	13 The prophets have become wind, and the word is not in them. May their threats be carried out against themselves!"
14 Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Since you have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth like fire and this people like wood, and it will devour them.	14 Now, for this that you have said, says the LORD, the God of hosts- Behold, I make my words in your mouth, a fire, And this people is the wood that it shall devour!--
15 Behold, O house of Israel, I will lead over you a far away nation, says the Lord, a robust nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you will not know, nor will you understand what they are saying.	15 Beware, I will bring against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, says the LORD; A long-lived nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you know not, whose speech you cannot understand.
16 Their quiver is like an open sepulcher. They are all strong.	16 Their quivers are like open graves; all of them are warriors.
17 And they will consume your grain fields and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vineyards and your figs. And with the sword, they will crush your fortified cities, in which you have placed your trust.	17 They will devour your harvest and your bread, devour your sons and your daughters, Devour your sheep and cattle, devour your vines and fig trees; They will beat flat with the sword the fortified city in which you trust.
18 Yet truly, in those days, says the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.	18 Yet even in those days, says the LORD, I will not wholly destroy you.
19 And if they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You shall say to them: ‘Just as you have abandoned me and have served a strange god in your own land, so will you serve strangers in a land not your own.’	19 And when they ask, "Why has the LORD done all these things to us?" say to them, "As you have forsaken me to serve strange gods in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land not your own."
20 Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it known in Judah, saying:	20 Announce this to the house of Jacob, proclaim it in Judah:
21 Listen, O foolish people who have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears, but you do not hear.	21 Pay attention to this, foolish and senseless people Who have eyes and see not, who have ears and hear not.
22 So then, will you not fear me, says the Lord. And will you not have sorrow before my face? I have placed the shore as a limit for the sea, as an everlasting precept that it will not transgress. And its waves will crash, but they will not prevail; and its waves will swell, but they will not go across.	22 Should you not fear me, says the LORD, should you not tremble before me? I made the sandy shore the sea's limit, which by eternal decree it may not overstep. Toss though it may, it is to no avail; though its billows roar, they cannot pass.
23 But the heart of this people has become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away and departed.	23 But this people's heart is stubborn and rebellious; they turn and go away,
24 And they have not said in their heart: ‘Let us dread the Lord our God, who gives us the timely and the late rains, in their proper time, who guards the full measure of the yearly harvest for us.’	24 And say not in their hearts, "Let us fear the LORD, our God, Who gives us rain early and late, in its time; Who watches for us over the appointed weeks of harvest."
25 Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back good things from you.	25 Your crimes have prevented these things, your sins have turned back these blessings from you.
26 For the impious are found among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting snares, for they set traps to catch men.	26 For there are among my people criminals; like fowlers they set traps, but it is men they catch.
27 Just as a snare is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result, they have become exalted and enriched.	27 Their houses are as full of treachery as a bird-cage is of birds; Therefore they grow powerful and rich,
28 They have grown stout and fat. And they have transgressed my words most wickedly. They have not judged the case of the widow; they have not given guidance to the case of the orphan; and they have not judged a judgment for the poor.	28 fat and sleek. They go their wicked way; justice they do not defend By advancing the claim of the fatherless or judging the cause of the poor.
29 Shall I not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?	29 Shall I not punish these things? says the LORD; on a nation such as this shall I not take vengeance?
30 Astonishing and wondrous things have been done upon the earth.	30 A shocking, horrible thing has happened in the land:
31 The prophets have prophesied lies, and the priests have applauded with their hands, and my people have loved these things. So then, what shall be done at the very end?”	31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests teach as they wish; Yet my people will have it so; what will you do when the end comes?