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Jeremiah 5

KJV · Chapter 5/52

1Run 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God sends Jeremiah to search Jerusalem for just one righteous, truthful person, but finds none — from the least to the greatest, all had become corrupt, including the religious leaders.

Explanation

The search for 'a man who does justice' echoes Abraham's intercession for Sodom in Genesis 18, but here the answer is even more serious: not even one righteous person is found. The criticism reaches every level of society — from the common people to the prophets and priests who should have led rightly but instead 'prophesy falsely,' and the people 'love to have it so,' showing mutual complicity in the corruption. The image of the boundary of the sea, which the waves cannot cross by God's command, contrasts with human rebellion that crosses every limit. Today's lesson is that integrity should not depend on what the majority around us is doing.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'it is not he' (v.12, meaning 'nothing will happen to us') shows an ancient way of practically denying God's existence or care, even while keeping up outward religiosity.
  • The image of the sea held back by sand (v.22) reflects real geographic knowledge of the Mediterranean coast, where sand dunes form natural barriers.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremiah 5:1God commands a search through Jerusalem for a single righteous man, offering to forgive the whole city if they find one - a direct echo of Abraham's plea for Sodom in Genesis 18. The difference is that here the search fails.
  2. Jeremiah 5:2Even when the people use God's name to swear an oath, as was the legal custom of the time, the oath is false - formal religiosity hides a lie underneath.
  3. Jeremiah 5:3Jeremiah acknowledges that God has already tried to correct the people through punishment, but they only grew harder, like stone, instead of repenting - the opposite of what discipline was meant to produce.
  4. Jeremiah 5:4At first, Jeremiah tries to excuse the common people as simple and uneducated, thinking maybe they simply do not know God's law.
  5. Jeremiah 5:5Jeremiah then turns to the elite, thinking the more educated leaders would be different - but discovers that they too rejected the covenant with God, only knowingly.
  6. Jeremiah 5:6Three different wild animals represent the constant danger surrounding the people because of their own sins - a threat coming from every side, with no escape.
  7. Jeremiah 5:7God lists what is driving the judgment: idolatry, and also cultic prostitution, common in the pagan shrines of the time, practiced openly and without shame.
  8. Jeremiah 5:8Compares the men of the people to wild, uncontrolled stallions, a raw image to describe the widespread lust and adultery among them.
  9. Jeremiah 5:9God asks, rhetorically, whether it would be fair to leave all this unanswered - the question already contains the answer: the punishment is unavoidable in the face of so much wickedness.
  10. Jeremiah 5:10God orders the destruction, but already warns it will not be total - the walls and battlements represent the people's defenses, but even this severe punishment leaves room for survivors.
  11. Jeremiah 5:11Reinforces that the betrayal does not belong to one isolated group: both kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, were equally unfaithful to God.
  12. Jeremiah 5:12Shows the people's denial: they doubt God will really act, betting that Jeremiah's warnings of war and famine are exaggeration.
  13. Jeremiah 5:13Says the false prophets, who promised peace, will discover that their own words were as empty as wind - and will suffer the very fate they announced would not happen.
  14. Jeremiah 5:14God answers the people's disbelief by turning Jeremiah's message into something as destructive as fire, and the people themselves into the wood that will be consumed by that word.
  15. Jeremiah 5:15Announces the Babylonian invasion as coming from a foreign and ancient nation, whose language the people of Judah will not even understand - reinforcing the sense of an unknown, distant threat.
  16. Jeremiah 5:16Compares the Babylonian army's quiver full of arrows to an open grave, always ready to receive more dead - an image of the approaching military power.
  17. Jeremiah 5:17Describes the invasion's complete economic devastation: harvests, herds, and even the fortified cities the people trusted in will fall, leaving everything destroyed.
  18. Jeremiah 5:18Even amid so much announced punishment, God repeats that He will not make a full end of the people - keeping, however discreetly, the hope of continuity.
  19. Jeremiah 5:19God anticipates the question the people will ask in exile, why did this happen, and already gives the answer: because they served foreign gods at home, they will serve foreigners away from home.
  20. Jeremiah 5:20Introductory formula: God commands that the following message be spread to the whole people, called here by the name of the patriarch Jacob.
  21. Jeremiah 5:21Describes the people as having working senses, but refusing to use them - seeing and hearing without truly perceiving what is happening around them.
  22. Jeremiah 5:22The sand that contains the sea is a classic example of the order God imposes even on the most violent forces of nature. The contrast is that this same people, who should be easier to restrain than the ocean, obey no limit at all.
  23. Jeremiah 5:23After recalling how even the sea respects the limits God imposes, the contrast grows even sharper: the people, who should be easier to restrain, insist on rebelling.
  24. Jeremiah 5:24The people enjoy the rains and the harvests God guarantees, but never stop to give thanks or acknowledge where that steady provision comes from.
  25. Jeremiah 5:25God explains that the people's own sins are the cause of their losing the good things they would normally receive - it is not a lack of care from God, it is a direct consequence of disobedience.
  26. Jeremiah 5:26Compares the corrupt among the people to bird trappers, who set hidden snares - an image of the premeditated exploitation of the weak by the cunning.
  27. Jeremiah 5:27The houses of the exploiters end up full of wealth gained by deceit, the same way a trapper's cage ends up full of captured birds - their prosperity comes at the expense of others.
  28. Jeremiah 5:28The social criticism becomes explicit: the rich grow fat while ignoring the justice owed to orphans and the poor - the crime is not only religious, it is also social.
  29. Jeremiah 5:29Repeats almost word for word the rhetorical question of verse 9, now applied specifically to the exploitation of the poor - reinforcing that the judgment is a response to this injustice.
  30. Jeremiah 5:30A transition sentence summing up the chapter's tone before the final accusation against prophets and priests that comes in the next verse.
  31. Jeremiah 5:31The priests ruling by the hands of the false prophets means the official religious leadership and the charismatic leadership were working together. Only in the wrong direction, propping up a system of lies that the people themselves, according to the text, prefer.

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