Jeremiah

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.

1The LORD said, "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look around. Search her open squares. If you can find even one person who does what is right and looks for truth, I will forgive the city."

2And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

2"Even when they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' they are lying when they promise."

3O 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.

3LORD, aren't your eyes looking for truth? You struck them, but they felt nothing. You wore them down, but they would not take correction. They set their faces harder than rock and refused to turn back.

4Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

4So I said, "These are only the poor. They act like fools, because they do not know the LORD's way or what their God calls right."

5I 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.

5"I will go to the important people and speak to them. Surely they know the LORD's way and what their God calls right." But they too had all thrown off God's rule and snapped the straps.

6Wherefore 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.

6So a lion from the forest will kill them. A wolf from the desert will tear them apart. A leopard will wait near their cities, and anyone who goes out will be ripped to pieces. They have broken God's law again and again, and turned away again and again.

7How 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.

7"Why should I forgive you? Your children have left me and made promises in the name of gods that are not gods. I gave them all they needed, and they still went to other men's wives and crowded into the houses of prostitutes."

8They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

8"They were like well-fed horses running loose. Each man was after his neighbor's wife."

9Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

9"Should I not punish them for this?" says the LORD. "Should I not pay back a nation like this?"

Note"Visit" in the King James Version here means to come and punish, not to pay a friendly visit.

10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’s.

10"Go up through her rows of vines and ruin them, but do not finish them off. Strip away her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD."

NoteThe Hebrew here is hard to pin down. The King James Version pictures city walls and battlements; other translations picture rows of vines and branches. Either way, the command is to damage but not destroy.

11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

11"The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been completely unfaithful to me," says the LORD.

12They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

12They have told lies about the LORD. They said, "He will not do anything. Nothing bad will happen to us. We will never see war or hunger."

13And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

13"The prophets are nothing but wind. God's message is not in them. Let what they threaten happen to them instead."

14Wherefore 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.

14So the LORD God of Armies says, "Because you talk like this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire. These people will be the wood, and the fire will burn them up."

15Lo, 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.

15"Listen, people of Israel," says the LORD. "I am bringing a nation against you from far away. It is a strong nation and an old one. You do not know its language, and you cannot understand what they say."

16Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

16Their arrow cases are like open graves. Every one of their soldiers is a strong fighter.

17And 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.

17"They will eat up your harvest and your bread, the food your sons and daughters need. They will eat your sheep and cattle, your grapevines and fig trees. With swords they will tear down the walled cities you trusted."

18Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

18"Even in those days," says the LORD, "I will not finish you off completely."

19And 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.

19"When your people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'You left me and served foreign gods in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"

20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

20Announce this to the family of Jacob, and say it out loud in Judah:

21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

21"Listen to this, you foolish people who do not understand. You have eyes but you do not see. You have ears but you do not hear."

22Fear 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?

22"Do you not fear me?" says the LORD. "Will you not tremble when I am near? I set the sand as the sea's border, a limit it can never cross. The waves rise up but cannot win. They roar but cannot get past it."

23But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

23But these people have stubborn, rebellious hearts. They have turned away and gone.

24Neither 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.

24They do not say to themselves, "Let us respect the LORD our God. He sends the fall rains and the spring rains at the right time. He keeps the harvest weeks for us."

NoteThe "former and latter" rains are the fall rains that soften the ground for planting and the spring rains that swell the grain before harvest.

25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

25Your wrongs have pushed these gifts away. Your sins have kept good things from reaching you.

26For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

26Among my people there are evil men. They crouch and watch like bird hunters. They set traps, and what they catch is people.

27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

27Their houses are packed with lies the way a cage is packed with birds. That is how they became powerful and rich.

28They 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.

28They have grown fat and sleek. They go even further than other wicked men. They will not defend orphans in court, yet everything goes well for them. They will not stand up for the rights of poor people.

29Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

29"Should I not punish them for this?" says the LORD. "Should I not pay back a nation like this?"

30A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

30Something shocking and horrible is happening in the land.

Note"Wonderful" in 1611 English meant something that fills you with wonder in a bad sense, closer to appalling. It does not mean delightful.

31The 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?

31The prophets tell lies when they speak. The priests rule however they please. And my people love it this way. But what will you do when the end comes?