Jeremiah 5:1

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said, ¹ 

“Go up and down ²  through the streets of Jerusalem. ³ 

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ⁴ 

If you can, ⁵  then I will not punish this city. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 26:15

26:15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the Lord has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!” ⁷ 

Jeremiah 30:6

30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ⁸ 

Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?

Why then do I see all these strong men

grabbing their stomachs in pain like ⁹  a woman giving birth?

And why do their faces

turn so deathly pale?

Jeremiah 34:15

34:15 Recently, however, you yourselves ¹⁰  showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 51:6

51:6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. ¹² 

Flee to save your lives.

Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins.

For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge.

He will pay Babylonia ¹³  back for what she has done. ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.

² tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”

⁵ tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”

⁶ tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”

⁷ tn Heb “For in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak in your ears all these words/things.”

⁸ tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”

⁹ tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.

¹⁰ tn The presence of the independent pronoun in the Hebrew text is intended to contrast their actions with those of their ancestors.

¹¹ sn This refers to the temple. See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 and the study note on 10:25 for the explanation of the idiom involved here.

¹² tn The words “you foreign people” are not in the text and many think the referent is the exiles of Judah. While this is clearly the case in v. 45 the referent seems broader here where the context speaks of every man going to his own country (v. 9).

¹³ tn Heb “her.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “paying to her a recompense [i.e., a payment in kind].”