CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Jeremiah 5
Chapter 5 of 52
Chapter Overview
What happens in Jeremiah 5
God searches Jerusalem for even one honest person who could save the city, but finds none. The people are dishonest from the poorest to the richest. God warns that a powerful foreign nation will come to devour the land because of their sins.
Scripture
Jeremiah 5
Searching for One Honest Person
Study note
Like Abraham bargaining with God over the city of Sodom, God tells Jeremiah to search the streets of Jerusalem for even one person who acts justly and seeks the truth. If one can be found, God will forgive the whole city. But the people swear falsely, refuse correction, and have made their faces harder than rock. Wild animals will attack them because of their many sins.
1 "Search up and down every street of Jerusalem. Check every open square. If you can find even one person who is honest and truly seeks what is right, I will forgive the entire city." Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
2 Even when people say, "I swear by the living Lord," they are lying through their teeth. And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
3 Lord, don't you care about what is true? You punished them, but they didn't feel a thing. You crushed them, but they wouldn't change. They set their faces as hard as stone and refused to come back to you. O LORD, are not thine 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.
4 I thought to myself, "These must be the poor, uneducated people. They don't understand how the Lord works or what his laws require." 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 "So I'll go talk to the leaders instead. Surely they know the Lord's ways and understand his laws." But they had all broken free from God too, snapping every chain that connected them to him. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto 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.
6 Because of this, a lion from the forest will attack them. A wolf from the desert will rip them apart. A leopard will lurk near their cities and tear to pieces anyone who steps outside. Their sins have piled up so high and they have turned away from God so many times. Wherefore a lion out of 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.
A People Without Shame
Study note
God gave the people everything they needed, but they used their prosperity for sin. When people are well-fed but ungrateful, they turn to evil. Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah have been deeply unfaithful. The people deny that God will punish them and dismiss the prophets' warnings as empty wind.
7 "Why should I forgive you? Your own children abandoned me and swore loyalty to gods that are not real. I gave them everything they needed, yet they were unfaithful. They packed into the houses where people worship other gods." 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, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
8 "They are like horses that have been well fed — each one going after someone else's wife." They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
9 "Shouldn't I punish them for doing this?" asks the Lord. "Shouldn't I make a nation like this pay for what they've done?" Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 "Go through their vineyards and tear them up, but don't destroy every last vine. Rip off the branches, because those branches don't belong to the Lord." 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.
11 "Israel and Judah have both been fully untrue to me," says the Lord. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
12 "They have told lies about the Lord. They said, 'He won't truly do anything! Nothing bad will ever happen to us. We'll never experience war or go hungry.'" They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
13 "The prophets are nothing but hot air. God hasn't truly given them any message. Let their own warnings come back on their own heads!" And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
A Distant Nation Will Come
Study note
Because the people dismiss Jeremiah's warnings, God declares that his words will become like fire consuming them. God is sending a powerful, ancient nation from far away whose language they do not understand. This nation will devour their crops, livestock, and fortified cities. Yet even then, God will not completely destroy them.
14 Because of this, the Lord God of Heaven's Armies says, "Since the people have said such things, I will turn my words in your mouth into fire. The people will be like wood, and the fire will burn them up." 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.
15 "Listen, people of Israel! I am bringing a nation against you from far away," says the Lord. "They are a powerful nation, a very old nation. You don't speak their language, and you won't be able to understand a word they say." 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.
16 "Their arrows bring death. They are all fierce warriors." Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
17 "They will gobble up your crops and your food supply. They will devour your sons and daughters. They will eat up your flocks and herds. They will consume your grapevines and fig trees. And they will smash your strong cities with their swords — the very cities you trusted to keep you safe." And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
18 "But even during those dark days," says the Lord, "I will not wipe you out completely." Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
19 "When the people ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?' give them this answer: 'You abandoned him and served foreign gods in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that isn't yours.'" And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
A Foolish People with Blind Eyes
Study note
God challenges the people to recognize his power. He set the sand as a boundary for the sea, yet the ocean cannot cross it. But these people have stubborn, rebellious hearts that will not respect God's boundaries. They do not thank God for the rain that brings their harvests. Their sins have held back good things from them.
20 "Announce this to the descendants of Jacob. Make it known throughout Judah:" Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 "'Listen to this, you foolish people who don't understand anything. You have eyes, but you refuse to see. You have ears, but you refuse to hear.'" Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
22 "'Don't you have any respect for me?' asks the Lord. 'Won't you tremble in my presence? I'm the one who set the sand as a boundary for the ocean — a permanent wall it can never get past. The waves crash and pound against it, but they can't break through. They roar, but they can't cross the line.'" Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
23 "But these people are stubborn and rebellious to the core. They have turned away and walked off." But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
24 "It never enters their minds to say, 'We should honor the Lord our God, who sends us rain at just the right time — the autumn rain and the spring rain. He makes sure we always have set weeks for the harvest.'" Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 "Your own sins have blocked these good things from reaching you. Your wrongdoing has kept these blessings away." Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Wicked Leaders Exploit the Poor
Study note
Among God's people are wicked men who trap others like bird catchers. Their houses are full of dishonest wealth. They have grown rich through lies and refuse to defend the rights of orphans and the poor. The prophets speak lies, the priests rule by their own power, and the people love it that way. God asks what will happen to them in the end.
26 "There are wicked people among my own nation who set traps for others, like hunters hiding nets to catch birds. They set their snares to trap people." For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
27 "Like a cage stuffed full of birds, their houses are stuffed full of lies and stolen goods. That's how they got so rich and powerful." As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
28 "They've grown fat and sleek. They've gone way beyond ordinary evil. They won't stand up for orphans who need justice, and they refuse to help poor people get a fair hearing." They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass 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.
29 "Shouldn't I punish them for this?" asks the Lord. "Shouldn't I make a nation like this pay for what they've done?" Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 "Something horrible and shocking has taken place in this land." A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
31 "The prophets tell lies, and the priests rule only for their own benefit. And my people love it that way! But what are you going to do when the end finally comes?" 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?
Key Themes
Themes in Jeremiah 5
The search for one righteous personUniversal corruption across social classesRefusal to respond to disciplineMoral blindnessGod's patience reaching its limit
Apply This Today
Living Jeremiah 5
God looks for integrity and honesty among His people. When an entire society, from the poorest to the wealthiest, abandons truth and justice, judgment becomes inevitable. One person of integrity can make an enormous difference in a community.
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Study Jeremiah in Covenant Path
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