Jeremiah 5

Bishops^{(i) 1} Loke through Hierusalem, beholde and see, seeke through her streetes also within, yf ye can fynde one man that doth equall and ryght, or seketh for the trueth, and I shall spare that citie, saith the Lorde ² For though they can say, the Lorde lyueth: yet they sweare to deceaue ³ Wheras thou (O Lorde) lokest only vpon faith and trueth: Thou hast scourged them, but they toke no repentaunce, thou hast corrected them for amendement, but they refused thy correction, they made their faces harder then a stone, and woulde not amende ⁴ Therfore I thought in my selfe: peraduenture they are so simple & foolishe that they vnderstande nothyng of the Lordes way, and iudgementes of their God ⁵ Therfore will I go vnto their heades and rulers, and talke with them, if they knowe the way of the Lord, and iudgementes of their God: But these [in lyke maner] haue broken the yoke, and burst the bondes in sunder ⁶ Wherfore a lion out of the wood hath hurt them, and a woolfe in the euenyng shall destroy them, the Leoparde doth lye lurkyng by their cities, to teare in peeces all them that come therout: for their offences are multiplied, and their departyng away is encreased ⁷ Shoulde I then for all this haue mercie vpon thee? Thy children haue forsaken me, and sworne by them that are no gods: and albeit that I fed them to the full, yet they fall to adulterie, and haunt harlottes houses ⁸ In the desire of vncleanly lust they are become lyke the stoned horse, euery man neyeth at his neighbours wife ⁹ Shoulde I not correct this, saith the Lorde? shoulde I not be auenged of euery people that is lyke vnto this ¹⁰ Climbe vp vpon their walles, beate them downe, and destroy them not vtterly: take away their battlementes, because they are not the lordes ¹¹ For vnfaithfully hath the house of Israel and Iuda forsaken me, saith the Lorde ¹² They haue denied the Lorde and sayde, It is not he [that loketh vpon vs] tushe, there shall no misfortune come vpon vs, we shall see neither sworde nor hunger ¹³ As for the warning of the prophetes, it is but wynde, yea there is not the worde of God in them: such thynges shall happen vnto them selues ¹⁴ Wherfore thus saith the Lorde God of hoastes, Because ye speake such wordes, beholde, the wordes that are in thy mouth wyll I turne to fire, and make the people to be wood, that the fire may consume them ¹⁵ Lo, I wyll bryng a people vpon you from farre, O house of Israel, saith the Lorde, a mightie people, an olde people, a people whose speache thou knowest not, neither vnderstandest what they say ¹⁶ Their arrowes are sodayne death, yea they them selues be very giauntes ¹⁷ This people shall eate vp thy fruite and thy meate, yea they shall deuour thy sonnes & thy daughters, thy sheepe and thy bullockes, they shall eate vp thy grapes and figges: As for thy strong and well defensed cities wherin thou didst trust, they shall bryng to pouertie, and that through the sworde ¹⁸ Neuerthelesse, I wyll not then haue done with you, saith the Lorde ¹⁹ But if they say, wherfore doth the Lorde our God all this vnto vs? Then aunswere them: because that lyke as ye haue forsaken me, & serued straunge gods in your lande, euen so shal ye serue straungers out of your lande ²⁰ Preach this vnto the house of Iacob, and crye it out in Iuda, and say thus ²¹ Heare this thou foolishe and vndiscreete people, ye haue eyes but ye see not, eares haue ye but ye heare not ²² Feare ye not me, saith the Lorde? will ye not tremble at my presence? which bynde the sea with the sande by a continuall decree, so that it can not passe his boundes: for though it rage, yet can it do nothing, and though the waues therof do swell, yet may they not go ouer ²³ But this people hath a false and obstinate heart, they are departed and gone away fro me ²⁴ They thinke not in their heartes, O let vs feare the Lord our God, who geueth vs raine early and late when nede is, whiche kepeth euer still the haruest for vs yerely ²⁵ Neuerthesse, your misdeedes haue turned these from you, and your sinnes haue robbed you of good thinges ²⁶ For among my people are found wicked persons, that priuily lay snares and wayte for men, to take them and destroy them ²⁷ And like as a nette is full of byrdes, so are their houses full of that which they haue gotten with falshood and deceipt: Hereof commeth their great substaunce and riches ²⁸ Hereof are they fat and welthy, and are more mischieuous then any other: they minister not the lawe, they make no ende of the fatherlesse cause, yea and they prosper: yet they iudge not the poore according to equitie ²⁹ Should I not punishe these thinges saith the Lorde? should not I be auenged of all suche people as these be ³⁰ Horrible and greeuous thinges are done in the lande ³¹ The prophetes teache falsely, and the preachers receaue giftes, and my people hath pleasure therein: what wyll come thereof at the last