5Jeremiah 5

Is Anyone Honest and Faithful? / The said to me:

1“Search Jerusalem for honest people who try to be faithful. If you can find even one, I'll forgive the whole city.Select Jeremiah 5:1

2Everyone breaks promises made in my name.”Select Jeremiah 5:2

3I answered, “I know that you look for truth. You punished your people for their lies, but in spite of the pain, they became more stubborn and refused to turn back to you.”Select Jeremiah 5:3

4Then I thought to myself, “These common people act like fools, and they have never learned what the Lord their God demands of them.Select Jeremiah 5:4

5So I'll go and talk to the leaders. They know what God demands.” But even they had decided not to obey the Lord.Select Jeremiah 5:5

6The people have rebelled and rejected the Lord too many times. So enemies will attack like lions from the forest or wolves from the desert. Those enemies will watch the towns of Judah, and like leopards they will tear to pieces whoever goes outside.Select Jeremiah 5:6

Enemies Will Punish Judah / The said:

7People of Judah, how can I forgive you? I gave you everything, but you abandoned me and worshiped idols. You men go to prostitutes and are unfaithful to your wives.Select Jeremiah 5:7

8You are no better than animals, and you always want sex with someone else's wife.Select Jeremiah 5:8

9Why shouldn't I punish the people of Judah?Select Jeremiah 5:9

10I will tell their enemies, “Go through my vineyard. Don't destroy the vines, but cut off the branches, because they are the people who don't belong to me.”Select Jeremiah 5:10

11In every way, Judah and Israel have been unfaithful to me. *Select Jeremiah 5:11

12Their prophets lie and say, “The Lord won't punish us. We will have peace and plenty of food.”Select Jeremiah 5:12

13They tell these lies in my name, so now they will be killed in war or starve to death.Select Jeremiah 5:13

14I am the Lord God All-Powerful. Jeremiah, I will tell you exactly what to say. Your words will be a fire; Israel and Judah will be the fuel.Select Jeremiah 5:14

15People of Israel, I have made my decision. An army from a distant country will attack you. I've chosen an ancient nation, and you won't understand their language.Select Jeremiah 5:15

16All of them are warriors, and their arrows bring death.Select Jeremiah 5:16

17This nation will eat your crops and livestock; they will leave no fruit on your vines or fig trees. And although you feel safe behind thick walls, your towns will be destroyed and your children killed.Select Jeremiah 5:17

Israel Refused To Worship the

18The Lord said: Jeremiah, the enemy army won't kill everyone in Judah.Select Jeremiah 5:18

19And the people who survive will ask, “Why did the Lord our God do such terrible things to us?” Then tell them: I am the Lord, but you abandoned me and worshiped other gods in your own land. Now you will be slaves in a foreign country.Select Jeremiah 5:19

20Tell these things to each other, you people of Judah, you descendants of Jacob.Select Jeremiah 5:20

21You fools! Why don't you listen when I speak? Why can't you understandSelect Jeremiah 5:21

22that you should worship me with fear and trembling? I'm the one who made the shore to hold back the ocean. Waves may crash on the beach, but they can come no farther.Select Jeremiah 5:22

23You stubborn people have rebelled and turned your backs on me.Select Jeremiah 5:23

24You refuse to say, “Let's worship the Lord! He's the one who sends rain in spring and autumn and gives us a good harvest.”Select Jeremiah 5:24

25That's why I cannot bless you! *Select Jeremiah 5:25

26A hunter traps birds and puts them in a cage, but some of you trap humans and make them your slaves.Select Jeremiah 5:26

27You are evil, and you lie and cheat to make yourselves rich. You are powerfulSelect Jeremiah 5:27

28and prosperous, but you refuse to help the poor get the justice they deserve.Select Jeremiah 5:28

29You need to be punished, and so I will take revenge.Select Jeremiah 5:29

30Look at the terrible things going on in this country. I am shocked!Select Jeremiah 5:30

31Prophets give their messages in the name of a false god, my priests don't want to serve me, and you—my own people— like it this way! But on the day of disaster, where will you turn for help?Select Jeremiah 5:31