Jeremiah 5

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Go about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can fins a man that executeth judgement, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto it.	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 And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely.	2 Though they say, "As the LORD lives," they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock, and they have refused 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 poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgement 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 I will go therefore to the great men, and I will speak to them: for they known the way of the Lord, the judgement of their God: and behold these have together broken the yoke more, and have burst 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 Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening, hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are 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 How can I be merciful to thee? thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and rioted in the harlot's house.	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 are become as amorous horses and stallions, every one neighed after his neighbor's wife.	8 Lustful stallions they are, each neighs after another's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things, sayeth the Lord? and shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?	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 down the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because 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 Juda have greatly transgressed against me, saith 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 said, It is not he: and the evil shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine.	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 in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them.	13 The prophets have become wind, and the word is not in them. May their threats be carried out against themselves!"
14 Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold I will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as wood, and it shall 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 I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say.	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 as an open sepulchre, they are all valiant.	16 Their quivers are like open graves; all of them are warriors.
17 And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons, and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks, and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards, and thy figs: and with the sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trustest.	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 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction.	18 Yet even in those days, says the LORD, I will not wholly destroy you.
19 And if you shall say: why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is 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 Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Juda, saying:	20 Announce this to the house of Jacob, proclaim it in Judah:
21 Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not.	21 Pay attention to this, foolish and senseless people Who have eyes and see not, who have ears and hear not.
22 Will not you then fear me, saith the Lord: and will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall not pass over it.	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 is become hard of belief and provoking, they are revolted and gone away.	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 fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fullness of the yearly harvest.	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 withholden good things from you.	25 Your crimes have prevented these things, your sins have turned back these blessings from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men.	26 For there are among my people criminals; like fowlers they set traps, but it is men they catch.
27 As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit: therefore are they become great 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 are grown gross and fat: andhave most wickedly transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, they have not judged the judgement of 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 for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?	29 Shall I not punish these things? says the LORD; on a nation such as this shall I not take vengeance?
30 Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land.	30 A shocking, horrible thing has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof?	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?