Yirmeyah 5

1. Run ye to and fro through the chutzot Yerushalayim (streets of Jerusalem), and see now, and know, and seek in the rechovot thereof, if ye can find an ish, if there be any that dispenseth mishpat (justice), that seeketh the emunah (faith); and I will forgive her [Jerusalem].

2. And though they say, Chai Hashem; surely they swear lasheker (falsely).

3. Hashem, are not Thine eyes upon emunah? Thou hast struck them, but they felt no anguish; Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to accept musar [cf Isa 53:5]; they have made their faces harder than stone; they have refused to make teshuvah.

4. Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the Derech Hashem, nor the Mishpat Eloheihem.

5. I will get me unto the Gedolim, and will speak unto them; for they have known the Derech Hashem, and the Mishpat Eloheihem; but these have altogether broken off the ol (yoke), and burst the bonds.

6. Therefore an aryeh (lion) out of the forest shall slay them, and a ze’ev (wolf) of the deserts shall destroy them, a namer (leopard) shall prowl near their towns; every one that ventureth out from there shall be torn to pieces; because their peysha’im (rebellions) are many, and their meshuvot (backslidings) are increased.

7. How shall I forgive thee for this? Thy banim have forsaken Me, and sworn by them that are no elohim; when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and trooped to the bais zonah.

8. They were like well-fed, lusty susim: every one neighed after the isha of his neighbor.

9. Shall I not visit [to punish] for these things? saith Hashem; and shall not My Nefesh be avenged on such a Goy as this?

10. Go ye up through her rows of vines, and cut down; but make not a full end; take away her branches; for they are not Hashem’s.

11. For Bais Yisroel and Bais Yehudah have dealt very treacherously against Me, saith Hashem.

12. They have spoken lies about Hashem, and said, Lo hu (not He); neither shall ra’ah come upon us; neither shall we see cherev nor ra’av (famine);

13. And the nevi’im shall become ru’ach, and the Devar is not in them; thus shall it be done unto them.

14. Therefore thus saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os, Because ye speak this devar, hinei, I will make My Devarim in thy mouth an eish, and HaAm HaZeh etzim (wood), and it shall consume them.

15. Hineni, I will bring a Goy (Nation) upon you from afar, O Bais Yisroel, saith Hashem; it is a powerful nation, a goy me’olam (an ancient nation), a nation whose leshon thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16. Their quiver is as an open kever (grave), they are all gibborim.

17. And they shall devour thine katzir (harvest), and thy lechem, which thy banim and thy banot should eat; they shall devour thy tzon and thine bakar; they shall eat up thy gefen and thy te’enah (fig tree); they shall impoverish thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the cherev.

18. Nevertheless in those days, saith Hashem, I will not make a full end with you.

19. And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why doeth Hashem Eloheinu all these things unto us? Then shalt thou answer them, As ye have forsaken Me, and served elohei nechar (foreign g-ds, strange g-ds) in your land, so shall ye serve zarim in an eretz not your own.

20. Declare this in Bais Ya’akov, and publish it in Yehudah, saying,

21. Hear now this, O Am Sakhal (foolish people) without understanding; which have eynayim (eyes), and see not; which have oznayim (ears), and hear not;

22. Fear ye not Me? saith Hashem; will ye not tremble at My Presence, Who hath placed the chol (sand) as the boundary of the yam by a chok olam, that it cannot transgress; and though the waves thereof toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

23. But HaAm Hazeh hath a lev sorer (stubborn heart) and moreh (rebellious); they have revolted and departed.

24. Neither say they in their lev, Let us now fear Hashem Eloheinu, that giveth geshem, both the yoreh (former rain, autumn rain) and the malkosh (latter rain, spring rain) in season; He secureth unto us shavu’ot chukkot katzir (the appointed weeks of the harvest).

25. Your avonot (iniquities) have turned away these things, and your chatta’ot (sins) have deprived hatov from you.

26. For among Ami are found resha’im; they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a mashkhit (trap), they catch anashim.

27. As a cage is full of oph, so are their batim (houses) full of mirmah; therefore they are become powerful and oshir (rich, wealthy).

28. They have grown fat and sleek; yea, their wicked deeds are without limit; the cause of the yatom they do not plead, yet they prosper; and the mishpat evyonim (right of the poor people) they do not defend.

29. Shall I not visit [to punish] for these things? saith Hashem; shall not My nefesh be avenged on such a Goy (Nation) as this?

30. An astonishing and horrible thing is committed in HaAretz;

31. The nevi’im prophesy falsely, and the kohanim rule at their direction; and My people love to have it this way; but what will ye do in the end?