Jeremiah 5:4-5

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹ 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ² 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ³ 

5:5 I will go to the leaders ⁴ 

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands. ⁵ 

Surely they know what their God requires of them.” ⁶ 

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 5:9

5:9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!” ⁸ 

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.

[5:4]  ² tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:4]  ³ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Compare Jer 2:20 and the note there.

[5:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.