“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. 2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they
swear falsely. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 8 They were [as]
fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: and shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”
“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. 11 For the
house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously
against me, saith the LORD. 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: 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not
in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 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.
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. 16
Their quiver [is] as an open sepulchre, they [are] all mighty men. 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. 18 Nevertheless
in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. 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.”
“20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah,
saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding;
which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 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? 23
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are
revolted and gone. 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.”
“25 Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins
have withholden good [things] from you. 26 For among my people are found
wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap,
they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses
full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 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. 29 Shall I not visit for
these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a
nation as this? 30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the
land; 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?” (Jeremiah 5:1-31 AV)