Jeremiah 5:26

“Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. ¹  They set deadly traps ²  to catch people.

"Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men.

‘For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

"Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They are continually setting traps for other people.

"My people are infiltrated by wicked men, unscrupulous men on the hunt. They set traps for the unsuspecting. Their victims are innocent men and women.

For there are sinners among my people: they keep watch, like men watching for birds; they put a net and take men in it.

For scoundrels are found among my people; they take over the goods of others. Like fowlers they set a trap; they catch human beings.

‘For among My people are found wicked men ; They lie in wait as one who sets snares; They set a trap; They catch men.

“Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. ¹  They set deadly traps ²  to catch people.

¹ tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, kÿshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ), and notes that this is usually understood as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (kesakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers)”; for the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.

² tn Heb “a destroying thing.”