Punishment by a Distant Nation
Jeremiah 5:15–29
Biblical Period
15Lo, I am bringing against you, O House of Israel, A nation from afar
—declares the Lord;
It is an enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation;
A nation whose language you do not know—
You will not understand what they say.
16Their quivers are like a yawning grave—
They are all mighty men.
17They will devour your harvest and food,
They will devour your sons and daughters,
They will devour your flocks and herds,
They will devour your vines and fig trees.
They will batter down with the sword
The fortified towns on which you rely.
18But even in those days—declares the Lord—I will not make an end of you. 19And when they ask, “Because of what did the Lord our God do all these things?” you shall answer them, “Because you forsook Me and served alien gods on your own land, you will have to serve foreigners in a land not your own.”
20Proclaim this to the House of Jacob
And announce it in Judah:
21Hear this, O foolish people,
Devoid of intelligence,
That have eyes but can’t see,
That have ears but can’t hear!
22Should you not revere Me
—says the Lord—
Should you not tremble before Me,
Who set the sand as a boundary to the sea,
As a limit for all time, not to be transgressed?
Though its waves toss, they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, they cannot pass it.
23Yet this people has a wayward and defiant heart;
They have turned aside and gone their way.
24They have not said to themselves,
“Let us revere the Lord our God,
Who gives the rain,
The early and late rain in season,
Who keeps for our benefit
The weeks appointed for harvest.”
25It is your iniquities that have diverted these things,
Your sins that have withheld the bounty from you.
26For among My people are found wicked men,
Who lurk, like fowlers lying in wait;
They set up a trap to catch men.
27As a cage is full of birds,
So their houses are full of guile;
That is why they have grown so wealthy.
28They have become fat and sleek;
They pass beyond the bounds of wickedness,
And they prosper.
They will not judge the case of the orphan,
Nor give a hearing to the plea of the needy.
29Shall I not punish such deeds
—says the Lord—
Shall I not bring retribution
On a nation such as this?
Credits
Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
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