Jeremiah 5 - 6 - Legacy Standard Bible

Jeremiah 5 - 6

Jerusalem Refuses to Repent

“Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

And see now and know,

And seek in her open squares,

If you can find a man,

If there is one who does justice, who seeks faithfulness,

Then I will pardon her.

And if they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’

Then they swear to a lie.”

O Yahweh, do not Your eyes look for faithfulness?

You have struck them,

But they did not weaken;

You have consumed them,

But they refused to receive discipline.

They have made their faces stronger than rock;

They have refused to repent.

Then I said, “They are only the poor;

They are foolish;

For they do not know the way of Yahweh

Or the legal judgment of their God.

Let me go to the great

And let me speak to them,

For they know the way of Yahweh

And the legal judgment of their God.”

But they too, altogether, have broken the yoke

And torn apart the bonds.

Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down;

A wolf of the deserts will devastate them;

A leopard is watching their cities.

Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces

Because their transgressions are many;

Their acts of faithlessness are mighty.

“Why should I pardon you?

Your sons have forsaken Me

And sworn by those who are not gods.

I had satisfied them to the full,

Then they committed adultery

And trooped to the harlot’s house.

They were well‑fed lusty horses,

Each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

Shall I not punish these people,” declares Yahweh,

“And on a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?

“Go up through her vine rows and make them a ruin,

But do not make a complete destruction;

Remove her branches,

For they are not Yahweh’s.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares Yahweh.

They have dealt falsely about Yahweh

And said, “Not He;

Calamity will not come on us,

And we will not see sword or famine.

The prophets are as wind,

And the word is not in them.

Thus it will be done to them!”

A Stubborn and Rebellious People

14 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,

“Because you have spoken this word,

Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire

And this people wood, and it will devour them.

Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.

“It is an enduring nation;

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose tongue you do not know,

Nor can you understand what they say.

Their quiver is like an open grave;

All of them are mighty men.

They will devour your harvest and your food;

They will devour your sons and your daughters;

They will devour your flocks and your herds;

They will devour your vines and your fig trees;

They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

18 “Yet even in those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19 It shall come about when they say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ 20

“Declare this in the house of Jacob

And cause it to be heard in Judah, saying,

‘Now hear this, O people who are simpleminded fools and without a heart of wisdom,

Who have eyes but do not see,

Who have ears but do not hear.

Do you not fear Me?’ declares Yahweh.

‘Do you not tremble in My presence?

For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,

A perpetual statute, so it cannot cross over it.

Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;

Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

They have turned aside and gone away.

They do not say in their heart,

“Let us now fear Yahweh our God,

Who gives rain in its season,

Both the early rain and the late rain,

Who keeps for us

The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

Your iniquities have turned these away,

And your sins have withheld good from you.

For wicked men are found among My people;

They watch like fowlers lying in wait;

They set a trap;

They catch men.

Like a cage full of birds,

So their houses are full of deceit;

Therefore they have become great and rich.

They are fat, they are sleek;

They also excel in deeds of evil;

They do not plead the cause,

The cause of the orphan, that they may succeed;

And they do not render justice for the poor.

Shall I not punish these people?’ declares Yahweh,

‘On a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?’

“A horrible and appalling thing

Has happened in the land:

The prophets prophesy with lying,

And the priests have dominion by their own hand;

And My people love it so!

But what will you do at the end of it?

Yahweh Disciplines Israel

“Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin,

From the midst of Jerusalem!

Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa

And raise a signal over Beth‑haccerem,

For evil looks down from the north,

As well as great destruction.

The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will ruin.

Shepherds and their flocks will come to her;

They will pitch their tents around her;

They will pasture each in his place.

Set yourselves apart for war against her;

Arise, and let us go up at noon.

Woe to us, for the day declines,

For the shadows of the evening stretch out!

Arise, and let us go up by night

And destroy her palaces!”

For thus says Yahweh of hosts,

“Cut down her trees

And cast up a siege against Jerusalem.

This is the city to be punished,

In whose midst there is only oppression.

Like a well keeps its waters fresh,

So she keeps fresh her evil.

Violence and devastation are heard in her;

Sickness and wounds are continually before Me.

Heed discipline, O Jerusalem,

Lest My soul become disgusted at you,

Lest I make you a desolation,

A land not inhabited.”

9 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,

“They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel;

Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer

Over the branches.”

To whom shall I speak and give warning

That they may hear?

Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,

And they cannot give heed.

Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them;

They have no delight in it.

But I am full of the wrath of Yahweh;

I am weary of holding it in.

“Pour it out on the infants in the street

And on the gathering of choice men together;

For both husband and wife shall be captured,

The aged with the one full of days.

Their houses shall be turned over to others,

Their fields and their wives together,

For I will stretch out My hand

Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh.

“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,

Everyone is greedy for gain,

And from the prophet even to the priest

Everyone practices lying.

They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,

Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

But there is no peace.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?

They were not even ashamed at all;

They did not even know how to feel dishonor.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time that I punish them,

They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.

16 Thus says Yahweh,

“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,

Where the good way is, and walk in it;

And you will find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

And I set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’

Therefore hear, O nations,

And know, O congregation, what is among them.

Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,

The fruit of their plans,

Because they have not given heed to My words,

And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba

And the sweet cane from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,

And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”

Therefore, thus says Yahweh,

“Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people.

And they will stumble against them,

Fathers and sons together;

Neighbor and friend will perish.”

Mourn the Coming Destroyer

22 Thus says Yahweh,

“Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north,

And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

They take hold of bow and spear;

They are cruel and have no compassion;

Their voice roars like the sea,

And they ride on horses,

Arranged as a man for the battle

Against you, O daughter of Zion!”

We have heard the report of it;

Our hands are limp.

Distress has taken hold of us,

Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

Do not go out into the field

And do not walk on the road,

For the enemy has a sword;

Terror is on every side.

O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth

And roll in ashes;

Mourn as for an only son,

A lamentation most bitter.

For suddenly the destroyer

Will come upon us.

“I have made you a tester of metals and an assayer among My people,

That you may know and test their way.”

All of them are rebelliously stubborn,

Going about as a slanderer.

They are bronze and iron;

They, all of them, are corrupt.

The bellows blow fiercely;

The lead is consumed by the fire;

In vain the refining goes on,

But the evil ones are not separated.

They call them rejected silver

Because Yahweh has rejected them.

Romans 2

God’s Righteous Judgment

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will repay to each according to his works: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 There will be affliction and turmoil for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God. 12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

The Jew Is Judged by the Law

17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written. 25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So if the uncircumcised man observes the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the Law, will he not judge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Psalm 98

Sing to Yahweh a New Song

A Psalm.

Sing to Yahweh a new song,

For He has done wondrous deeds,

His right hand and His holy arm have worked out His salvation.

Yahweh has made known His salvation;

He has revealed His righteousness in the eyes of the nations.

He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a loud shout to Yahweh, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

Sing praises to Yahweh with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of singing.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Make a loud shout before King Yahweh.

Let the sea roar, as well as its fullness,

The world and those who dwell in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy

Before Yahweh, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.