5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see
now, and know, and seek in its broad places, if ye can find a
man, if there is [any] that executeth judgment, that seeketh
the truth; and I will pardon it.
5:2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear
falsely.
5:3 O LORD, [are] not thy 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.
5:4 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.
5:5 I will go to the great men, and will speak to 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.
5:6 Wherefore a lion from 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.
5:7 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, then they committed adultery, and assembled
themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
5:8 They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one neighed
after his neighbor's wife.
5:9 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: and
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:10 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.
5:11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt
very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
5:12 They have belied the LORD, and said, [It is] not he;
neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor
famine:
5:13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not
in them: thus shall it be done to them.
5:14 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.
5:15 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.
5:16 Their quiver [is] as an open sepulcher, they [are] all
mighty men.
5:17 And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, [which]
thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy
flocks and thy herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy
fig-trees: they shall impoverish with the sword thy fortified
cities, in which thou hast trusted.
5:18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make
a full end with you.
5:19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why doeth the
LORD our God all these [things] to us? then shalt thou answer
them, As ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your
land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land [that is] not
yours.
5:20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in
Judah, saying,
5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding;
who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not:
5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my
presence, who have placed the sand [for] the bound of the sea
by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though its
waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they
roar, yet can they not pass over it?
5:23 But this people have a revolting and a rebellious heart;
they have revolted and gone.
5:24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD
our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in
its season: he reserveth to us the appointed weeks of harvest.
5:25 Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your
sins have withheld good [things] from you.
5:26 For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait,
as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses full of
deceit: therefore they have become great, and have grown rich.
5:28 They have become fat, they shine: yes, they surpass 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.
5:29 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall
not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
5:31 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?
|