1
Go through the streets of Jerusalem,
look carefully and take note!
Search in her open squares:
can you find a man,
is there anyone who does justice
and seeks truth,
then I will pardon that city.
2
Though they say, “As the LORD lives,”
yet they swear falsely.
3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look toward truth?
You have struck them,
but they felt no pain;
You have crushed them,
but they refused correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock,
and they would not turn back.
4
Then I thought, “These are only the poor;
they are foolish,
because they do not know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.
5
I will go to the great ones,
and speak to them,
for they know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.”
But they too had all broken the yoke,
they had torn off the bonds.
6
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down,
and a wolf from the desert will destroy them.
A leopard will lie in wait by their cities;
everyone who goes out will be torn in pieces.
For their transgressions are many,
and their backslidings are very great.
7
How then can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken Me,
and sworn by those who are not gods.
When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery
and went to the house of a prostitute.
8
They are well-fed, lusty stallions;
each one neighs for his neighbor’s wife.
9
Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD.
Shall I not avenge Myself
on a nation such as this?
10
Go up through her vineyards and destroy them,
but do not make a full end.
Remove her branches,
for they do not belong to the LORD!
11
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have dealt very treacherously against Me,
declares the LORD.
12
They have denied the LORD
and said, “He will do nothing!
No disaster will come upon us,
we will not see sword or famine.
13
The prophets will become wind,
the word is not in them.”
14
Therefore thus says the LORD,
the God of hosts:
“Because they have spoken like this,
behold, I am making My words in your mouth a fire,
and this people wood,
and the fire shall consume them.
15
Behold, I am bringing
against you a nation from far away,
O house of Israel, declares the LORD,
a mighty and enduring nation,
a nation from of old,
a nation whose language you do not know,
and whose speech you do not understand.
16
Their quiver is like an open grave;
they are all mighty men.
17
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 destroy with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.”
18
“But even in those days,” declares the LORD,
“I will not make an end of you.
19
And when you ask, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’
then you shall answer them: ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land,
so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’”
20
Declare this among the house of Jacob,
proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21
“Hear this,
you foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but do not see,
who have ears, but do not hear!
22
Do you not fear Me, declares the LORD,
do you not tremble before Me?
Is it not I who set the sand as the boundary for the sea,
as an everlasting limit that it cannot pass?
Though it tosses, it cannot prevail;
though its waves roar, they cannot pass over it.
23
But this people has
an obstinate and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24
They do not say in their heart,
‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and who keeps for us
the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25
Your iniquities have kept these things away,
and your sins have withheld good from you.
26
For among My people are wicked men;
they lie in wait like men who set snares;
like bird catchers they set traps;
they catch men.
27
Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich,
28
fat and sleek.
Besides, they overlook evil deeds;
they do not uphold justice,
the cause of the orphan they do not defend,
and the right of the poor they do not maintain.
29
Shall I not punish them for these things?,
declares the LORD.
Shall I not avenge Myself
on a nation such as this?”
30
A dreadful and appalling thing
has happened in the land:
31
The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it so!
But what will you do
when the end comes?
🧱⚖️🔥 Summary of Jeremiah 5 – No One Is Just, a Stubborn Nation
Jeremiah 5 is the Lord’s formal accusation against the whole nation of Judah. From the least to the leaders, no one was truly living in righteousness. The Lord told Jeremiah to look for even one righteous person — and he found none. This nation was stubborn, unwilling to listen to warnings, and even mocked prophecy. As a result, judgment from a foreign nation would come. Yet in the midst of His anger, the Lord said: “Yet I will not make a full end.”
📌 1. No Righteous Person (verses 1–3)
“Search through the streets of Jerusalem… if there is anyone who acts justly…”
- The Lord told Jeremiah to look for even one righteous person in Jerusalem, as Abraham once did for Sodom
- The result? None. Even when they swore by the Lord, it was only their lips, not their hearts
🎯 The Lord judges the depth of the heart, not merely outward religion.
📌 2. A Stubborn Nation, from Least to Greatest (verses 4–9)
“They refused to pay attention to the way of the Lord…”
- At first Jeremiah thought the common people did not understand, but in fact the leaders were guilty too
- Their sins:
Rejecting the law of the Lord
Living in adultery and greed
Their houses were full of deceit and violence
🎯 Sin is not a matter of ignorance, but a conscious rebellion against the truth.
📌 3. Judgment Will Come (verses 10–18)
“Go up against her walls… but do not make a complete destruction.”
- The Lord sends a foreign nation (Babylon) to punish Judah, but not to utterly destroy it
- This foreign nation is described as:
Strong, with a language they cannot understand
Their arrows are deadly
They consume the produce of the land and the children of Judah
🎯 The Lord disciplines, not utterly destroys — because He still has a plan of restoration.
📌 4. Rejection of the Lord’s Warning (verses 19–31)
“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it so!”
- The people say: “The Lord will do nothing” — they mock the prophecy of judgment
- The false prophets say “peace” while sin runs rampant
- The priests twist the law to suit themselves
- And the people? They like it.
🎯 When truth is rejected, people create a false religion that pleases the ear.
📖 Main Teaching
- The Lord seeks a right heart — even one matters
- Collective sin brings collective judgment
- Hardness of heart is more dangerous than foolishness, because it is a conscious refusal
- The Lord is not quick to destroy — His judgment is full of justice and mercy
- False religion grows when God’s people reject His word
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
“There is none righteous, not even one.”
➡️ Jeremiah 5 is fulfilled in the Gospel: all people are sinful — and need a Savior.
“You are like whitewashed tombs.”
➡️ Jesus rebuked the same hypocrisy — outward religion without a repentant heart.
📖 John 8:7
“Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.”
➡️ All are guilty — only Jesus is righteous and brings true forgiveness.
“The time will come when people will not listen to sound teaching…”
➡️ Just like Jeremiah 5: the people prefer false prophecy rather than truth.
🎯 New Testament truth: Jesus is the only Righteous One, and through Him we are justified.
🕊️ “Seek… just one person who acts justly… then I will forgive Jerusalem.” – Jeremiah 5:1
🕊️ “The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it so.” – Jeremiah 5:31
🕊️ “Yet even when I punish you, I will not destroy you completely.” – Jeremiah 5:18
🕊️ “They have lied about the LORD and said: He will do nothing.” – Jeremiah 5:12
