Dual Panel1The Lord said, “Go up and down through <07751> the streets <02351> of Jerusalem <03389>. Look around <07200> and see <03045> for yourselves. Search <01245> through its public squares <07339>. See if <0518> any of you can find <04672> a single person <0376> who deals <06213> honestly <04941> and tries <01245> to be truthful <0530>. If you can, then I will not punish <05545> this city.
2These people make promises <0559> in the name of the Lord <03068>. But the fact is <03651>, what they swear <07650> to is really a lie <08267>.”
3Lord <03068>, I know you look <05869> for faithfulness <0530>. But even when you punish <05221> these people, they feel no <03808> remorse <02342>. Even when you nearly destroy <03615> them, they refuse <03985> to be corrected <04148> <03947>. They have become as hardheaded <02388> as a rock <05553>. They refuse <03985> to change <07725> their ways <07725>.
4I <0589> thought <0559>, “Surely <0389> it is only the ignorant poor <01800> who act this way. They <01992> act <02973> like fools <02973> because <03588> they do not <03808> know <03045> what the Lord <03068> demands <01870>. They do not know what their God <0430> requires <04941> of them.
5I will go <01980> to <0413> the leaders <01419> and speak <01696> with them. Surely <03588> they <01992> know <03045> what the Lord <03068> demands <01870>. Surely they know what their God <0430> requires <04941> of them.” Yet all <03162> of them <01992>, too <0389>, have rejected <07665> his authority <05923> and refuse <05423> to submit to him <04147>.
6So <03651> like a lion <0738> from the thicket <03293> their enemies will kill <05221> them. Like a wolf <02061> from the desert <06160> they will destroy <07703> them. Like a leopard <05246> they will lie in wait <08245> outside their cities <05892> and totally <03605> destroy <02963> anyone <02007> who ventures out <03318>. For <03588> they have rebelled <06588> so much <07231> and done so many <06105> unfaithful things <04878>.
7The Lord asked, “How <0335> can I leave <05545> <05545> you unpunished <05545> <05545>, Jerusalem <02063>? Your people <01121> have rejected <05800> me and have worshiped <07650> gods that are not <03808> gods <0430> at all <07650>. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife <05003> to me. They went flocking <01413> to the houses <01004> of prostitutes <02181>.
8They are <01961> like lusty <07904>, well-fed <02109> stallions <05483>. Each <0376> of them lusts <06670> after his neighbor’s <07453> wife <0802>.
9I will surely punish <06485> them for <05921> doing such <0428> things!” says <05002> the Lord <03068>. “I will surely <0518> bring retribution <05358> on such <0834> a nation <01471> as this <02088>!”
10The Lord commanded <05927> the enemy, “March <08284> through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin <07843> them. But do not <0408> destroy <06213> them completely <03617>. Strip off <05493> their branches <05189> for <03588> these people <01992> do not <03808> belong to the Lord <03068>.
11For <03588> the nations <01004> of Israel <03478> and Judah <03063> <01004> have been very unfaithful <0898> to me,” says <05002> the Lord <03068>.
12“These people have denied <03584> what the Lord <03068> says. They have said <0559>, ‘That <01931> is not <03808> so! No <03808> harm <07451> will come <0935> to <05921> us. We will not <03808> experience <07200> war <02719> and famine <07458>.
13The prophets <05030> will prove to be <01961> full of wind <07307>. The Lord has not <0369> spoken through <01699> them. So, let <03541> what they say happen <06213> to them.’”
14Because of that <03651>, the Lord <03068>, the God <0430> who rules over all <06635>, said <0559> to me, “Because <03282> these people have spoken <01696> like this <02088> <01697>, I will make <05414> the words <01697> that I put in your mouth <06310> like fire <0784>. And I will make this <02088> people <05971> like wood <06086> which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up <0398>.”
15The Lord <03068> says <05002>, “Listen <02005>, nation <01471> of Israel <03478>! I am about to bring <0935> a nation <01471> from far away <04801> to attack you. It will be a nation <01471> that was founded long ago <05769> and has lasted for a long time. It will be a nation <01471> whose language <03956> you will not <03808> know <03045>. Its people will speak <01696> words that you will not <03808> be able to understand <08085>.
16All <03605> of its soldiers <01368> are strong <01368> and mighty <01368>. Their arrows <0827> will send <06605> you to your grave <06913>.
17They will eat up <0398> your crops <07105> and your food <03899>. They will kill off <0398> your sons <01121> and your daughters <01323>. They will eat up <0398> your sheep <06629> and your cattle <01241>. They will destroy <0398> your vines <01612> and your fig trees <08384>. Their <02007> weapons <02719> will batter down <07567> the fortified <04013> cities <05892> you <0859> trust <0982> in.
18Yet even <01571> then <03117> I will not <03808> completely destroy <03617> destroy <06213> you <01992>,” says <05002> the Lord <03068>.
19“So then <01961>, Jeremiah, when <03588> your people ask <0559>, ‘Why <04100> <08478> has the Lord <03068> our God <0430> done <06213> all <03605> this <0428> to <0413> us?’ tell <0559> them, ‘It is because <0834> you rejected <05800> me and served <05647> foreign <05236> gods <0430> in your own land <0776>. So <03651> you must serve <05647> foreigners <02114> in a land <0776> that does not <03808> belong to you.’
20“Proclaim <05046> this <02063> message among the descendants <01004> of Jacob <03290>. Make <08085> it known <08085> throughout Judah <03063>.
21Tell them: ‘Hear <08085> this <02063>, you foolish <05530> people <05971> who have no <0369> understanding <03820>, who have eyes <05869> but do not <03808> discern <07200>, who have ears <0241> but do not <03808> perceive <08085>:
22“You should fear <03372> me!” says <05002> the Lord <03068>. “You should tremble <02342> in awe before <06440> me! I made <07760> the sand <02344> to be a boundary <01366> for the sea <03220>, a permanent <05769> barrier <02706> that it can never <03808> cross <05674>. Its waves <01530> may roll <01607>, but they can never <03808> prevail <03201>. They may roar <01993>, but they can never <03808> cross <05674> beyond that boundary.”
23But these <02088> people <05971> have <01961> stubborn <05637> and rebellious <04784> hearts <03820>. They have turned aside <05493> and gone <01980> their own way.
24They do not <03808> say <0559> to themselves <03824>, “Let us revere <03372> the Lord <03068> our God <0430>. It is he who gives <05414> us the autumn <03138> rains <01653> and the spring rains <04456> at the proper time <06256>. It is he who assures <08104> us of the regular <02708> weeks <07620> of harvest <07105>.”
25Your misdeeds <05771> have stopped <05186> these <0428> things from coming. Your sins <02403> have deprived <04513> you of my bounty <02896>.’
26“Indeed <03588>, there are <04672> wicked scoundrels <07563> among my people <05971>. They lie in wait <07789> like bird catchers <03353> hiding in ambush <07918>. They set <05324> deadly traps <04889> to catch <03920> people <0582>.
27Like <03651> a cage <03619> filled <04392> with the birds <05775> that have been caught, their houses <01004> are filled <04392> with the gains of their fraud and deceit <04820>. That is how <03651> <05921> they have gotten <06238> <01431> so rich <06238> and powerful <01431>.
28That is how they have grown fat <08080> and <01571> sleek <06245>. There is no limit <05674> to the evil <07451> things they do <01697>. They do not <03808> plead <01777> the cause <01779> of the fatherless <03490> in such a way as to win <06743> it. They do not <03808> defend <08199> the rights <04941> of the poor <034>.
29I will certainly punish <06485> them for <05921> doing such <0428> things!” says <05002> the Lord <03068>. “I will certainly <0518> bring retribution <05358> on such <0834> a nation <01471> as this <02088>!
30“Something horrible <08186> and shocking <08047> is going on <01961> in the land <0776> of Judah:
31The prophets <05030> prophesy <05012> lies <08267>. The priests <03548> exercise <07287> power <05921> by their own authority <03027>. And my people <05971> love <0157> to have it this way <03651>. But they will not be able to help <06213> you when <04100> the time of judgment comes <0319>!