The Depravity of Jerusalem
Investigate;5:1 Lit See and know
search in her squares.
any who acts justly,
who pursues faithfulness,
then I will forgive her.5:1 Gn 18:26–32
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.5:3 Pr 23:35
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.5:3 Pr 27:22
They made their faces harder than rock,5:3 Ezk 3:7–9
and they refused to return.5:3 Hs 11:5
4Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have been foolish.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,5:4 Gn 18:19; 2Kg 17:26; 21:22; Ps 95:10; Jr 8:7; Hs 4:6
the justice of their God.5:4 Mc 3:1
5I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.5:5 Ps 103:7
However, these also had broken the yoke
A wolf from arid plains will ravage them.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,5:6 Is 59:12
7Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;5:7 Hs 4:10
they gashed themselves5:7 1Kg 18:24 at the5:7 Or adultery and trooped to the, or adultery and lodged at the; Hb obscure prostitute’s house.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
on such a nation as this?
but do not finish them off.5:10 Jr 4:27
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.5:10 Hs 1:9
11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12They have contradicted the Lord
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Armies says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make my words
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.5:14 Zch 12:6
15I am about to bring a nation
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
they are all warriors.
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
With the sword they will destroy
your fortified cities5:17 Hs 8:14 in which you trust.
18“But even in those days” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “I will not finish you off.5:18 2Ch 12:12; Jr 4:27; 5:10; 30:11; Ezk 11:13; 20:17; Rm 11:1–5
19When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us? ’ You will respond to them, ‘Just as you abandoned me5:19 Dt 28:20; 29:24–25; 31:16; Jdg 2:12; 1Sm 8:8; 1Kg 9:8–9; Is 1:4,28; Jr 1:16; 2:13,17,19; 16:11; 17:13 and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ 5:19 Dt 4:27–28; 28:47–48
20“Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21Hear this,
you foolish and senseless5:21 Lit without heart people.5:21 Dt 32:6
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear.5:21 Ps 115:5–6; 135:16–17; Is 6:9; 42:20; Ezk 12:2; Mt 13:14; Mk 8:18
22Do you not fear me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before me,
the one who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24They have not said to themselves,
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld my bounty from you,5:25 Is 59:2
26for wicked men live among my people.
They set a trap;5:26 Ps 10:9
they catch men.
27Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.5:27 Ps 10:7; 50:19; Is 3:14; 5:18; 30:12; Jr 8:5; Zph 1:9; Ac 13:10; Rm 1:29
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.5:28 Dt 24:14; Jb 29:16; 30:25; 31:19; Ps 82:3–4; 140:12; Pr 14:31; 31:9; Is 1:23; Zch 7:10; Ac 4:34
29Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
on such a nation as this?
30“An appalling, horrible thing
has taken place in the land.5:30 Hs 6:10
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
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