NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1The LORD said, "Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and see for yourselves. Search through its public squares. See if any of you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city.

1"Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And seek in her open squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon her.

2These people make promises in the name of the LORD. But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie."

2"And although they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear falsely."

3LORD, I know you look for faithfulness. But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected. They have become as hardheaded as a rock. They refuse to change their ways.

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

4I thought, "Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the LORD demands. They do not know what their God requires of them.

4Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God.

5I will go to the leaders and speak with them. Surely they know what the LORD demands. Surely they know what their God requires of them." Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority and refuse to submit to him.

5"I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the ordinance of their God." But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds.

6So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things.

6Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

7The LORD asked, "How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes.

7"Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's house.

8They are like lusty, well-fed stallions. Each of them lusts after his neighbor's wife.

8"They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

9I will surely punish them for doing such things!" says the LORD. "I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!"

9"Shall I not punish these people," declares the LORD, "And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?

10The LORD commanded the enemy, "March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. But do not destroy them completely. Strip off their branches for these people do not belong to the LORD.

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 nations of Israel and Judah have been very unfaithful to me," says the LORD.

11"For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," declares the LORD.

12"These people have denied what the LORD says. They have said, 'That is not so! No harm will come to us. We will not experience war and famine.

12They have lied about the LORD And said, "Not He; Misfortune will not come on us, And we will not see sword or famine.

13The prophets will prove to be full of wind. The LORD has not spoken through them. So, let what they say happen to them.'"

13"The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!"

14Because of that, the LORD, the God who rules over all, said to me, "Because these people have spoken like this, I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire. And I will make this people like wood which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up."

14Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.

15The LORD says, "Listen, nation of Israel! I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you. It will be a nation that was founded long ago and has lasted for a long time. It will be a nation whose language you will not know. Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

15"Behold, I am bringing 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 language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

16All of its soldiers are strong and mighty. Their arrows will send you to your grave.

16"Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are mighty men.

17They will eat up your crops and your food. They will kill off your sons and your daughters. They will eat up your sheep and your cattle. They will destroy your vines and your fig trees. Their weapons will batter down the fortified cities you trust in.

17"They will devour 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 vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

18Yet even then I will not completely destroy you," says the LORD.

18"Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not make you a complete destruction.

19"So then, Jeremiah, when your people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' tell them, 'It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So you must serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.'

19"It shall come about when they 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 serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

20"Proclaim this message among the descendants of Jacob. Make it known throughout Judah.

20"Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21Tell them: 'Hear this, you foolish people who have no understanding, who have eyes but do not discern, who have ears but do not perceive:

21'Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.

22"You should fear me!" says the LORD. "You should tremble in awe before me! I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea, a permanent barrier that it can never cross. Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail. They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary."

22'Do you not fear Me?' declares the LORD. 'Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone their own way.

23'But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

24They do not say to themselves, "Let us revere the LORD our God. It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time. It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest."

24'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest."

25Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.'

25'Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.

26"Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. They set deadly traps to catch people.

26'For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

27Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.

27'Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich.

28That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.

28'They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

29I will certainly punish them for doing such things!" says the LORD. "I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!

29Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD, 'On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?'

30"Something horrible and shocking is going on in the land of Judah:

30"An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land:

31The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!

31The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?

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