Jeremiah 5:2
New International Version
Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ still they are swearing falsely.”

New Living Translation
But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!”

English Standard Version
Though they say, “As the LORD lives,” yet they swear falsely.

Berean Standard Bible
Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”

King James Bible
And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

New King James Version
Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”

New American Standard Bible
“And although they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Certainly they swear falsely.”

NASB 1995
“And although they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”

NASB 1977
“And although they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And if they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ Then they swear to a lie.”

Amplified Bible
“And though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear [their oaths] falsely.”

Christian Standard Bible
When they say, “As the LORD lives,” they are swearing falsely.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When they say, “As the LORD lives,” they are swearing falsely.

American Standard Version
And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely.

Contemporary English Version
Everyone breaks promises made in my name."

English Revised Version
And though they say, As the LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
People say, "As the LORD lives...." Yet, they lie when they take this oath.

Good News Translation
Even though you claim to worship the LORD, you do not mean what you say.

International Standard Version
Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' still they are swearing falsely."

Majority Standard Bible
Although they say, ?As surely as the LORD lives,? they are swearing falsely.?

NET Bible
These people make promises in the name of the LORD. But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie."

New Heart English Bible
Though they say, 'As the LORD lives;' surely they swear falsely."

Webster's Bible Translation
And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

World English Bible
Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ surely they swear falsely.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And if they say, YHWH lives, "" Surely they swear to a falsehood.”

Young's Literal Translation
And if they say, 'Jehovah liveth,' Surely to a falsehood they swear.

Smith's Literal Translation
And if Jehovah lives, they will say, for this they will swear to a falsehood.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For even though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.”

New American Bible
They say, “As the LORD lives,” but in fact they swear falsely.

New Revised Standard Version
Although they say, “As the LORD lives,” yet they swear falsely.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And though they say, The LORD lives; truly they swear falsely.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And if LORD JEHOVAH lives, they will say: “Truly, in falsehood they are swearing vows!”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And though they say: 'As the LORD liveth', Surely they swear falsely.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The Lord lives, they say; do they not therefore swear falsely?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
No One is Just
1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city. 2Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.” 3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.…

Cross References
Matthew 15:8
‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

Isaiah 48:1
“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—

Ezekiel 33:31
So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

Matthew 23:27-28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. / In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Hosea 10:4
They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

James 2:14
What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

1 John 2:4
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Zephaniah 1:5
those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,

1 Samuel 15:24
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Psalm 78:36-37
But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues. / Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

Romans 2:3
So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.


Treasury of Scripture

And though they say, The LORD lives; surely they swear falsely.

though.

Jeremiah 4:2
And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

Jeremiah 7:9
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

Leviticus 19:12
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

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Jeremiah 5
1. The judgments of God upon the people, for their perverseness;
7. for their adultery;
10. for their impiety;
15. for their worship of idols;
19. for their contempt of God;
25. and for their great corruption in the civil state;
30. and ecclesiastical.














Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’
This phrase begins with a declaration that is meant to be solemn and binding. The Hebrew word for "LORD" here is "YHWH," the sacred and personal name of God, which signifies His eternal and self-existent nature. The phrase "As surely as the LORD lives" is an oath formula, often used to affirm truthfulness and sincerity. However, in this context, it is used ironically, highlighting the people's hypocrisy. They invoke God's name, yet their actions betray their words. This reflects a common theme in the prophetic literature where outward religiosity is condemned when it lacks genuine faith and obedience.

they are swearing falsely
The Hebrew root for "falsely" is "sheqer," which means deception or falsehood. This indicates that the people's oaths are not just empty but deceitful. They are using God's name in vain, violating the commandment found in Exodus 20:7. This false swearing is not merely a personal failing but a societal one, indicating a deep-seated corruption and a lack of integrity among the people. In the historical context, this reflects the spiritual and moral decline of Judah, which Jeremiah was called to address. The people's false oaths are symptomatic of their broader unfaithfulness to the covenant with God.

(2) The Lord liveth.--The words imply that a distinction between the binding powers of different formulae of adjuration, like that of the later scribes (Matthew 23:16), was already in some degree prevalent. The guilt of the men of Jerusalem was that they took the most solemn formula of all, "Jehovah liveth," and yet were guilty of perjury. In Jeremiah 5:7 we find traces of the practice of swearing by other gods, with which this "oath of Jehovah" is apparently contrasted.

Falsely.--Literally, upon falsehood.

Verse 2. - And though they say, The Lord liveth. Though they asseverate by the most solemn of all oaths (contrast Jeremiah 4:1, 2). Surely. So the Syriac. This rendering, however, involves an emendation of one letter in the text. The ordinary reading is literally therefore, but may etymologically be taken to mean "for all this," "nevertheless."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Although
וְאִ֥ם (wə·’im)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

they say,
יֹאמֵ֑רוּ (yō·mê·rū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“As surely as the LORD
יְהֹוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

lives,”
חַי־ (ḥay-)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

they are swearing falsely.
יִשָּׁבֵֽעוּ׃ (yiš·šā·ḇê·‘ū)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7650: To seven oneself, swear


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 5:2 Though they say As Yahweh lives (Jer.)
Jeremiah 5:1
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