Jeremiah 5:1-9

1“1Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, And look and take notice. And seek in her public squares, If you can 2find a person, 3If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty, Then I will forgive 4her.2And 5although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ Certainly they swear falsely.”3Lord, do 6Your eyes not look for honesty? You have 7struck them, But they did not 8weaken; You have consumed them, But they 9refused to accept discipline. They have 10made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

4Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they 11do not know the way of the Lord Or the judgment of their God.5I will go to the great And speak to them, For 12they know the way of the Lord And the judgment of their God.” But together they too have 13broken the yoke And burst the restraints.6Therefore 14a lion from the forest will kill them, A 15wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A 16leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their 17wrongdoings are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

7“Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken Me And 18sworn by those who are 19not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They 20committed adultery And stayed at the prostitute’s house.8They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing at his 21neighbor’s wife.9Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord, “And 22shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?