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Chapter 5 |
| 1 | Run ye to and
fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the
broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth
judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. |
| 2 | And though
they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. |
| 3 | O LORD, are
not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not
grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction:
they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to
return. |
| 4 |
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for
they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. |
| 5 | I
will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known
the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether
broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. |
| 6 | Wherefore a lion out of the
forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard
shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in
pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are
increased. |
| 7
| How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have
forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the
full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots' houses. |
|
8 | They were as fed horses in the morning: every one
neighed after his neighbour's wife. |
| 9 | Shall I not visit for these
things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as
this? |
| 10 |
Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end:
take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's. |
| 11 | For the
house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against
me, saith the LORD. |
| 12 | They have belied the LORD, and said, It is
not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor
famine: |
| 13
| And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not
in them: thus shall it be done unto them. |
|
14 | Wherefore thus saith the
LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in
thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. |
| 15 | Lo,
I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it
is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou
knowest not, neither understandest what they say. |
| 16 | Their quiver
is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. |
| 17 | And they
shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters
should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy
vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou
trustedst, with the sword. |
|
18 | Nevertheless in those days, saith the
LORD, I will not make a full end with you. |
|
19 | And it shall come to
pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto
us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served
strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not
your's. |
| 20
| Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in
Judah, saying, |
|
21 | Hear now this, O foolish people, and without
understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear
not: |
| 22 |
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my
presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves,
yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over
it? |
| 23 |
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they
are revolted and gone. |
| 24 | Neither say they in their heart, Let us now
fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his
season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. |
| 25 |
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden
good things from you. |
| 26 | For among my people are found wicked men:
they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch
men. |
| 27 |
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of
deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. |
| 28 | They are
waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge
not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of
the needy do they not judge. |
|
29 | Shall I not visit for these things?
saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
|
| 30 | A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; |
| 31 | The
prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my
people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? |
