Jeremiah 5:19-31 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

¹⁹ 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.

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

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

²² 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 this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

²⁴ 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 iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

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

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

²⁸ 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 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

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

³¹ 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?