Jeremiah 5:3-21

3O Lord, do not 1Your eyes look for 2truth? You have 3smitten them, But they did not 4weaken; You have consumed them, But they 5refused to take correction. They have 6made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

4Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they 7do not know the way of the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.5I will go to the great And will speak to them, For 8they know the way of the Lord And the ordinance of their God.” But they too, with one accord, have 9broken the yoke And burst the bonds.6Therefore 10a lion from the forest will slay them, A 11wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A 12leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their 13transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

7“Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And 14sworn by those who are 15not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They 16committed adultery And trooped to the harlot’s house.8They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his 17neighbor’s wife.9Shall I not punish 18these people,” declares the Lord, “And on a nation such as this 19Shall I not avenge Myself?

10“Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the Lord’s.11For the 20house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.12They have 21lied about the Lord And said, “2223Not He; Misfortune will 24not come on us, And we 25will not see sword or famine.13The 26prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!”

14Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am 27making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.15Behold, I am 28bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. “It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose 29language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.16Their 30quiver is like an 31open grave, All of them are mighty men.17They will 32devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your 33vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your 34fortified cities in which you trust.

18“Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19It shall come about 35when 36they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will 37serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

20“Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,21‘Now hear this, O foolish and 38senseless people, Who have 39eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.