Jeremiah 5 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Walk through the streets of Jerusalem, look around and take note, search through her open squares — if you can find even one person who acts with justice, who seeks what is true, then I will forgive this city.

Even when they say, "As Yahweh lives," they are swearing falsely.

Yahweh, don't your eyes look for what is true? You struck them, but they felt nothing. You crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to turn back.

Then I thought, "These are just the poor, the ones who don't know any better — they don't understand the way Yahweh works, the standards their God expects.

So I'll go to the powerful people and speak with them instead. Surely they understand the way Yahweh works, the standards their God expects." But every one of them had broken off the yoke, snapped the restraints.

So a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the wasteland will tear them apart, a leopard will crouch near their cities — everyone who steps outside will be ripped to pieces. Because their rebellions are many and their betrayals have multiplied.

Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned me and sworn by gods that aren't real. I gave them everything they needed, but they gave themselves to other lovers — they crowded into the houses of prostitutes.

They are well-fed, restless stallions, each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

Should I not hold them accountable for this? — this is Yahweh speaking — Should I not settle the score with a nation like this?

Go through her vineyard rows and destroy — but don't finish her off completely. Strip away her branches, for they do not belong to Yahweh.

Because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been completely unfaithful to me," — this is Yahweh speaking.

They have lied about Yahweh and said, "He won't do anything. No disaster will come to us. We will never see war or famine."

"The prophets are just full of wind — no one is actually speaking through them. Let what they say happen to them instead!"

So this is what Yahweh, God of angel armies, says: "Because they have said these things, I will make my words fire in your mouth and these people the wood it devours."

"Watch — I am bringing a nation against you from far away, house of Israel," says Yahweh. "It is an ancient nation, an enduring nation, a nation whose language you do not know, whose words you cannot understand.

Their quiver is an open grave. Every one of them is a warrior.

They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your herds. They will devour your vines and your fig trees. They will shatter your fortified cities that you trust in — with the sword.

"But even in those days," says Yahweh, "I will not finish you off completely.

And when they ask, 'Why has Yahweh our God done all this to us?' you will tell them: 'Just as you abandoned me and served foreign gods in your own land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'"

Declare this to the house of Jacob, proclaim it in Judah:

"Listen to this, you foolish people who have no sense— who have eyes but cannot see, who have ears but cannot hear:

Don't you stand in awe of me?" says Yahweh. "Don't you tremble in my presence? I set the sand as a boundary for the sea, a permanent barrier it cannot cross. The waves may churn, but they cannot prevail. They may roar, but they cannot pass over it.

But these people have stubborn, rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and walked away.

They never say to themselves, 'Let's stand in awe of Yahweh our God, who gives the rain in its season — the autumn rains and the spring rains — who keeps the weeks of harvest steady for us.'

Your wrongdoing has disrupted these things. Your failures have kept good things from you.

Because among my people there are wicked ones who crouch like bird trappers lying in wait. They set their snares and catch people instead.

Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of stolen gains. That is how they have grown powerful and rich.

They have grown fat and sleek. They have crossed every line of wickedness. They refuse to take up the case of the orphan — and still they thrive. They don't defend the rights of the poor.

Should I not hold them accountable for this? — this is Yahweh speaking — Should I not settle the score with a nation like this?

Something horrifying and appalling has happened in this land:

The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do when the end comes?