Jeremiah 5:15-31

5:15 The 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.

5:16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty.

Their arrows will send you to your grave.

5:17 They 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.

5:18 Yet even then I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord. 5:19 “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.’

5:20 “Proclaim this message among the descendants of Jacob.

Make it known throughout Judah.

5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,

you foolish people who have no understanding,

who have eyes but do not discern,

who have ears but do not perceive:

5:22 “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.”

5:23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.

They have turned aside and gone their own way.

5:24 They 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.”

5:25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming.

Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’

5:26 “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.

5:27 Like 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.

5:28 That 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.

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!

5:30 “Something horrible and shocking

is going on in the land of Judah:

5:31 The 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!