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          DASV: Jeremiah 5    

1 "Search up and down the streets of Jerusalem,
      look around and know,
           inspect its squares,
     see if you can find one person
           who acts justly and seeks truth,
      and I will pardon the city.
2 Though they say, 'As the LORD lives;'
     in fact they are swearing falsely."
3 O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
     You have struck them,
           but they felt no pain.
     You have consumed them,
           but they refused to be corrected.
     They have made their faces harder than a rock;
           they have refused to repent.

4 Then I said, "Surely these are just the poor;
     they are foolish,
      for they do not know the way of LORD,
     or the law of their God.
5 I will go to the leaders
     and will speak to them,
      for these know the way of the LORD,
     and the law of their God."
      But these, to a person, have broken the yoke of God's law,
           and burst the bonds.
6 So a lion out of the forest will slay them,
     a desert wolf will destroy them,
      a leopard will lurk outside their cities
     and every one that goes out will be torn in pieces,
      because their rebellions are many
     and their unfaithfulness has increased.

7 "How can I pardon you?
     Even your children have forsaken me,
           and sworn by those who are not gods.
      When I had fed them to their full,
          then they committed adultery,
     and flocked to the houses of harlots.
8 They were like well-fed stallions running wild,
     every one neighing after his neighbor's wife.
9 Will I not punish them for these things?" says the LORD.
      "Should I not be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go through her vineyards and destroy,
          but do not totally destroy them.
      Strip away her branches,
     for they are not LORD's.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
     have been absolutely unfaithful to me,"
           says the LORD.

12 They have denied what the LORD says,
          by saying, "He won't do anything.
      No disaster will come on us;
          we will not see the sword or famine.
13 The prophets are mere blustering wind,
          and the word of God is not in them.
      Let those threats happen to them."

14 Therefore this is what the LORD says,
the God of hosts,
     "Because you talk like this,
     I will make my words a fire in your mouth,
     and this people will be consumed like wood.
15 I will bring a nation on you from far away, O house of Israel,"
           says the LORD.
      "It is an ancient nation that has endured,
      a nation whose language you do not know,
           you cannot understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;
      they are all mighty warriors.
17 They will eat up your harvest and food;
           they will devour your sons and daughters.
      They will eat up your flocks and herds;
           they will eat up your vines and fig trees.
      They will decimate your fortified cities with the sword,
           those you trusted in.
18 But even in those days," says the LORD,
      "I will not totally destroy you.
19 When you ask,
      'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?'
      Then you will say to them,
      'It is because they have abandoned me,
           and served foreign gods in your land,
           so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob,
      and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Hear this, O foolish people who lack understanding,
      who have eyes, but do not see;
      who have ears, but do not hear.
22 Do you not fear me?" says the LORD.
      "Will you not tremble at my presence?
      I placed the sand for the boundary of the sea,
           a permanent barrier that it cannot pass.
      Even though the waves toss themselves against it,
           yet they cannot prevail.
      Even though they roar,
           yet they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
      they have turned aside and left.
24 They do not say in their heart,
      'Let us now fear the LORD our God,
           who gives the autumn and spring rains at the right time,
           who guarantees for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Your iniquities have stopped these things,
      your sins have deprived you of good.
26 For the wicked are found among my people;
      they watch like bird catchers who hide,
           only they set traps to catch people.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
      so their houses are full of deceit;
           therefore they have become great,
          v and grown rich.
28 They have grown fat and sleek.
      Their deeds of wickedness know no limit;
      they do not plead the cause of the fatherless
      that they may prosper,
           and do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 Should I not punish them for these things?"
                says the LORD;
      "Should I not be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 A shocking and horrible thing
      has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
      and the priests rule by their own authority,
           and my people love it that way.
      But what will you do when the end comes?"

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