Jeremiah 5:14-31 - Coming Judgment

¹⁴ Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies says: "Because you people have said this, my words in your mouth will become a fire and these people the wood. The fire will destroy them. ¹⁵ People of Israel, I'm now bringing a nation from far away to attack you," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know. And you won't understand what they say. ¹⁶ Their quiver is like an open grave, and all of them are powerful warriors. ¹⁷ "They'll devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons and your daughters. They'll devour your vines and your fig trees. With their swords they'll batter down your fortified cities in which you trust.

¹⁸ "Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I won't destroy you completely. ¹⁹ When the people ask, "Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you are to say to them, "Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'" ²⁰ "Declare this to the descendants of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah:

²¹ "Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don't see; they have ears, but don't hear. ²² "You don't fear me, do you?' declares the LORD. "You don't tremble before me, do you? I'm the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.' ²³ But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and have gone away. ²⁴ They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.' ²⁵ Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back from you what is good. ²⁶ "Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people. ²⁷ Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich, ²⁸ and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor. ²⁹ "Should I not punish them for this?' asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?'

³⁰ "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: ³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"