Jeremiah 5:1-13
The Depravity of Jerusalem
1 Roam through the streets of Jerusalem.
Investigate;[fn]
search in her squares.
If you find one person,
any who acts justly,
who pursues faithfulness,
then I will forgive her.
2 When they say, “As the LORD lives,”
they are swearing falsely.
3 LORD, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness?
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.
They made their faces harder than rock,
and they refused to return.
4 Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have been foolish.
For they don’t understand the way of the LORD,
the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the LORD,
the justice of their God.
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.
6 Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.
A wolf from arid plains will ravage them.
A leopard stalks their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,
their unfaithful deeds numerous.
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;
they gashed themselves at the[fn] prostitute’s house.
8 They are well-fed,[fn] eager[fn] stallions,
each neighing after someone else’s wife.
9 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the LORD’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
10 Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,
but do not finish them off.
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the LORD.
11 They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with me.
This is the LORD’s declaration.
12 They have contradicted the LORD
and insisted, “It won’t happen.[fn]
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13 The prophets become only wind,
for the LORD’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
For deeper study: David Guzik Commentary
