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Run 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 (5:1) And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely (5:2) O 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 (5:3) Therefore I said, Surely these [are] poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, [nor] the judgment of their God (5:4) I 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 (5:5) Wherefore 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 (5:6) How 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 (5:7) They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife (5:8) Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? (5:9) Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they [are] not the Lord'S (5:10) For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord (5:11) They have belied the Lord, and said, [It is] not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: (5:12) And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not in them: thus shall it be done unto them (5:13) Wherefore 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 (5:14) Lo, 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 (5:15) Their quiver [is] as an open sepulchre, they [are] all mighty men (5:16) And 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 (5:17) Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full end with you (5:18) 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 (5:19) Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, (5:20) Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: (5:21) 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? (5:22) But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone (5:23) 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 (5:24) Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins have withholden good [things] from you (5:25) For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men (5:26) As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich (5:27) 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 (5:28) Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? (5:29) A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; (5:30) 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?
(5:31)
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