Jeremiah 5

Run to and Fro through Jerusalem

The Lord offers to pardon the whole city if one honest person can be found in it, and then shows why He cannot. From the poor to the powerful, from the market to the pulpit, nobody fears Him, and the people love it that way.

Reign of Josiah, 626–608 B.C. (the Bible Dictionary places chapters 1–6 there); the chapter gives no date of its own Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Chapters 1–6 are the Bible Dictionary's “Prophecies of reign of Josiah.”

Chapters 1–6 are the Bible Dictionary's “Prophecies of reign of Josiah.” Jeremiah 4 has just announced an enemy marching from the north, and chapter 6 will describe its approach. Chapter 5 sits between them as the case for the prosecution. The Church's chapter heading says it plainly: “Judgments will be poured out upon the people of Judah because of their sins—Their iniquities cause blessings to be withheld from them.”

The voice changes without warning. The Lord speaks in verse 1, Jeremiah turns to Him in verse 3 (“O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?”) and reports his own reasoning in verses 4–5 (“Therefore I said”), and the Lord resumes. The chapter has no date and names no one but the Lord. It names no enemy either: “a nation… from far” is all it says.

The scene is a search. The Lord sends someone through Jerusalem's streets to find a single honest person, and the rest of the chapter is why none turns up. The Book of Mormon meets the chapter at several points. Nephi, whose family left this same city, calls Jerusalem “nearly unto ripeness” for destruction (1 Ne. 17:43), and the confidence that Jerusalem would never fall, which verse 12 voices, is the confidence Laman and Lemuel are said to have shared (1 Ne. 2:13).

The thread through the chapter

Jeremiah 5 answers one question: why can the Lord not simply pardon His people?

Jeremiah 5 answers one question: why can the Lord not simply pardon His people? It is a trial scene in which the Lord argues His own case, and He begins by offering the easiest possible terms. If one person “executeth judgment” and “seeketh the truth,” He will pardon the city (verse 1).

The rest of the chapter shows that no such person turns up, and it looks at every level. Ordinary people swear by the Lord's life and lie (verse 2). Jeremiah turns to the poor, who might be excused for not knowing better, and then to the great, who do know, and both have broken the yoke (verses 4–5). The nation has everything and has worshipped other gods (verses 7–8, 19). The people, with prophets to back them, deny that judgment will come (verses 12–13). The wealthy trap the weak and ignore the fatherless (verses 26–28). The chapter ends on the worst of it: prophets lie, priests rule with them, “and my people love to have it so” (verse 31).

The question “Shall I not visit for these things?” in verses 9 and 29 is the Lord's own verdict spoken as a question. Inside the judgment, the Lord twice promises that He “will not make a full end” (verses 10, 18). The chapter is harsh because it is trying to say why, not only that.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–6

The search for one honest person

In plain words

“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and see, search her public squares. If you can find one person who does justice and seeks truth, I will pardon the city. Even when they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ they are swearing falsely.” Jeremiah answers: “Lord, your eyes look for truth. You struck them and they felt no pain. You wore them down and they refused correction. They made their faces harder than rock and refused to turn back. I thought, ‘These are only the poor; they are foolish; they do not know the way of the Lord, the law of their God. I will go to the great and speak to them; they know.’ But they, too, have broken the yoke and torn off the bonds.” So a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait at their towns, and anyone who goes out will be torn to pieces, because their rebellions are many and their turnings away have increased.

1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

Related Scriptures #

One righteous person

The Lord's offer in verse 1 is like the one He made to Abraham about Sodom, and it ends the same way.

The Lord's offer in verse 1 is like the one He made to Abraham about Sodom, and it ends the same way. He “promised to spare Judah if anyone could be found who lived justly or sought the truth,” and the chapter shows “that there were none such.” Abraham bargained down to ten, and the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for ten's sake” (Gen. 18:32). Here the bar is lower still: one person.

The Church edition's footnote on “executeth judgment” gives “does justly” as another rendering and points to Ezek. 22:30, where the Lord says of the same city, “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” The search in Jeremiah is not a rhetorical flourish. Ezekiel says it was made and failed, and the rest of Jeremiah 5 shows the evidence.

Sources: Chapter 23: As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap (Jeremiah 1–19), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

Related Scriptures #

Swearing by the Lord’s life, falsely

“As the Lord liveth” was the proper oath, and Jeremiah himself had given its terms: “thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness” (Jer. 4:2).

“As the Lord liveth” was the proper oath, and Jeremiah himself had given its terms: “thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness” (Jer. 4:2). Verse 2 says that the oath is being said but the three conditions are not being kept. The people use the Lord's name to give a lie the look of truth.

The temple sermon names the same pattern. The people say “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord” (Jer. 7:4) and then “steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal” (Jer. 7:9), and still come into the house to say “We are delivered” (Jer. 7:10). In Jeremiah, the offense is not saying the Lord's name but saying it with no intention to be bound by it.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

Context #

The poor and the great

Jeremiah first tries to excuse the common people and then finds that the leaders are no better.

Jeremiah first tries to excuse the common people and then finds that the leaders are no better. The “poor” are the common people, and the verse gives the reason he is willing to excuse them: “they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.” So he turns to “the great men” (on one reading, the wealthy, distinguished, and educated), who “have known the way of the Lord” and so have no such excuse.

They have “altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds” (verse 5). The yoke is “of the law and the covenants,” so what the great have thrown off is the covenant itself, and they did it knowing what it was. Knowing the law did not keep them from breaking it.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

Imagery #

Lion, wolf, and leopard

The three beasts are a threat, but whether they are real animals or figures for an enemy is not settled by the verse.

The three beasts are a threat, but whether they are real animals or figures for an enemy is not settled by the verse. One reading takes them literally, as the chastening that the law itself threatened (Leviticus 26:22), and holds that the Hebrew verbs describe punishments “partly already taken place, which may be partly yet to come.” Another comparison is Zeph. 3:3, the passage the Church edition cites on “wolf,” where the city's own “princes” are “roaring lions” and its “judges are evening wolves.” There the beasts are the rulers.

The footnote on “evenings” gives “plains, wilderness” as the alternative. The Hebrew word is a plural of the word for a desert plain, and the wolf is one that comes out of the wilderness to raid inhabited places. On any reading the verse's point is plain: whoever goes out of the cities is torn, “because their transgressions are many.”

Verses 7–11

Why the Lord cannot pardon

In plain words

“How can I pardon you? Your children have left me and sworn by gods that are not gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and crowded into the houses of prostitutes. They are well-fed, lusty horses, each neighing after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not punish them? Shall I not take vengeance on such a nation?” Then to the invaders: “Go up on her walls and ravage, but do not make a full end. Strip away her tendrils, for they do not belong to the Lord. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me.”

7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.

Language #

Fed them to the full

The charge in verses 7–8 is that prosperity bred disloyalty. The Church edition's footnote sends “fed them to the full” to Deut. 32:15 (“Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked”), which…

The charge in verses 7–8 is that prosperity bred disloyalty. The Church edition's footnote sends “fed them to the full” to Deut. 32:15 (“Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked”), which says the same of Israel: the more the Lord gave, the less they remembered Him. Verse 8 compares the men to “fed horses,” and the footnote gives the Hebrew as “lusty stallions.” The verses name the sin plainly: the houses of prostitutes, and a neighbor's wife. The people were given every reason for faithfulness and chose the opposite.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Related Scriptures #

When the Lord’s patience ends

The Lord's question in verse 9 comes at the end of His patience, not the start.

The Lord's question in verse 9 comes at the end of His patience, not the start. The Church edition renders “visit” as “punish,” and the same question stands again in verse 29, and in Jer. 9:9. Nephi, “a contemporary of Jeremiah,” uses the image of ripeness to say when it comes. The Canaanites “had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity” (1 Ne. 17:35), and of Jerusalem he says, “they have become wicked, yea, nearly unto ripeness; and I know not but they are at this day about to be destroyed” (1 Ne. 17:43).

Jerusalem “had reached the point of no return.” Years later, speaking to the survivors in Egypt, Jeremiah says the land was made desolate because the Lord “could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings” (Jer. 44:22). The wrath is the end of waiting, not the first response.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chapter 23: As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap (Jeremiah 1–19), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’s.

Related Scriptures #

Judgment with a limit

The chapter's threat of invasion is twice capped with a promise that the Lord will not make a “full end.”

The chapter's threat of invasion is twice capped with a promise that the Lord will not make a “full end.” It is said here and again in verse 18, and it is the same promise given at Jer. 4:27: “The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” The two verses frame the invasion.

The fulfillment is in Jeremiah's own book: the Chaldeans “burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem” (Jer. 39:8, which the Church edition gives for this verse), and Nebuzar-adan “carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city” (Jer. 39:9). A remnant survives. Nephi sees the same outline: Jerusalem “must be destroyed, save a few only, who shall be led away into captivity” (1 Ne. 17:43).

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Language #

Battlements or tendrils?

The Hebrew word the KJV renders “battlements” means a “twig, tendril of vine.”

The Hebrew word the KJV renders “battlements” means a “twig, tendril of vine.” It appears in only two other places: Isa. 18:5, where the “branches” of a vine are cut down before harvest, and Jer. 48:32, where Moab's “plants are gone over the sea.” In both Isaiah and Jeremiah 5 it is used of destroying a city “under figure of vineyard.” The command, then, is to strip away the vine's tendrils, because they are not the Lord's.

One reading takes the “walls” earlier in the verse as the walls of that vineyard, and the tendrils as “spurious members of the nation… those who have degenerated out of their kind,” cut away while the vine itself is left. Either way the command carries its own limit: the invaders may strip and destroy, but not “make a full end.”

Sources: Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

Verses 12–19

“It is not he”

In plain words

They have lied about the Lord and said, “He will do nothing. No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.” The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them; so be it done to them. So the Lord says to Jeremiah: “Because they say this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and this people the wood it consumes. I am bringing against you, house of Israel, a nation from far away, strong and ancient, whose language you do not know and whose speech you cannot understand. Their quiver is an open grave; all of them are warriors. They will eat your harvest and the bread your sons and daughters should eat, your flocks and herds, your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will impoverish the fortified cities you trust. But even in those days I will not make a full end of you. When they ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them: ‘As you left me and served foreign gods in your own land, so you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”

12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

Context #

“He will do nothing”

“It is not he” is the denial that the Lord will do what His prophets say.

“It is not he” is the denial that the Lord will do what His prophets say. The confidence behind it had a history: Jerusalem had survived the Assyrians about a century earlier, and when the Babylonians came there were many who “firmly believed it could not be conquered.” False prophets backed it: the Church edition's footnote on this verse points to Jer. 14:13, where the prophets say, “Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.” Hananiah is one of them (Jer. 28:15).

The most basic factor in the false confidence was that the people “were unwilling to listen to the true and living prophets of God.” Lehi heard the same reaction in these years: “the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them” (1 Ne. 1:19). Verse 13 is read more than one way. On one reading it turns the claim around: the prophets who promise that evil will not come “are to become wind,” for “the Spirit of God is not in them.”

Sources: Scripture Central, “Why Did Some in Lehi’s Time Believe that Jerusalem Could Not Be Destroyed?”, KnoWhy #451. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Related Scriptures #

Words as fire

The words the Lord gave Jeremiah are the instrument of the judgment. At his call the Lord said, “I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jer. 1:9), and here those words are called fire…

The words the Lord gave Jeremiah are the instrument of the judgment. At his call the Lord said, “I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jer. 1:9), and here those words are called fire and the people wood. Later the Lord asks, “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29).

“Because ye speak this word” refers to the denial in verse 12: because the people say the Lord will not act, the prophet's word will show that He does. The word the people dismissed is what burns them.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

Context #

A nation from far

The chapter does not name the invaders, and the description echoes Moses' warning.

The chapter does not name the invaders, and the description echoes Moses' warning. In Deut. 28:49–51 the Lord says He will “bring a nation against thee from far… a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand,” which will “eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land.” Verses 15–17 use the same ideas: a distant nation, a language the people cannot follow, and a harvest, flocks, and vines eaten. Isaiah has the same threat in Isa. 33:19 (“a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive”), the passage the Church edition gives for verse 15.

Chapter 4 speaks of “watchers” coming “from a far country” (Jer. 4:16) and chapter 6 of “a people” from “the north country” (Jer. 6:22). The Lord names the nation later: “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant” (Jer. 25:9).

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Context #

The punishment fits the offense

The answer the Lord gives for the exile is measure for measure. When the people ask “Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us?”

The answer the Lord gives for the exile is measure for measure. When the people ask “Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us?” they are to say that they served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve foreigners in a foreign land.

Jeremiah later names the length: “these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. 25:11). The chapter's verse says only that the loss of the land answers the loss of loyalty, and gives the people an answer to a question they have not yet asked.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Verses 20–25

A people who do not fear the Lord

In plain words

“Announce this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah. Hear this, foolish people without understanding, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear. Do you not fear me? Will you not tremble before me, who set the sand as the boundary of the sea, a limit that lasts forever, which the waves cannot cross? But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives rain in its season, winter and spring, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for harvest.’ Your wrongdoing has turned these away; your sins have kept good things from you.”

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

Related Scriptures #

Eyes and ears

“Eyes, and see not… ears, and hear not” describes people who have the evidence and do not draw the conclusion.

“Eyes, and see not… ears, and hear not” describes people who have the evidence and do not draw the conclusion. The Church edition links the verse to Matt. 13:14, where Jesus explains why He teaches in parables: “in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” Matthew's source is Isaiah's commission: “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not” (Isa. 6:9).

Jeremiah says the same of his own generation. The unseeing is a chosen condition, and the next verse says what they fail to see.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

Imagery #

The sand for the bound of the sea

The Lord points to the sea, held back by sand, to ask why His own people will not be held by Him.

The Lord points to the sea, held back by sand, to ask why His own people will not be held by Him. The sea's limit is a bank of sand: “though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.” The same decree is in Job: the Lord “set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?” (Job 38:10–11).

The argument runs from the sea to the people: the waves stay within the Lord's “perpetual decree,” but this people “hath a revolting and a rebellious heart” (verse 23).

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

Language #

The former and the latter rain

The “former” and “latter” rain are the rains of “winter and spring,” and both were conditional blessings in the law: “if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments… I will…

The “former” and “latter” rain are the rains of “winter and spring,” and both were conditional blessings in the law: “if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments… I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain” (Deut. 11:13–14).

So the verse is more than nature lore. The people do not say “Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain,” and verse 25 draws the conclusion: “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.” That is the chapter heading's second clause, that iniquity causes blessings to be withheld. The rain is the evidence the people ignore.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

Verses 26–31

Traps, wealth, and a pulpit that lies

In plain words

“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like bird catchers. They set a trap and catch people. As a cage is full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; that is how they grew great and rich. They are fat and sleek, and their evil has no limit. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless or the rights of the poor, yet they prosper. Shall I not punish them? Shall I not take vengeance on such a nation?” A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule at their direction, and my people love it so. What will you do when the end comes?

26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

Imagery #

A cage full of birds

The bird-catcher's trap stands for the wealthy who profit from other people's weakness.

The bird-catcher's trap stands for the wealthy who profit from other people's weakness. “Like those who trap birds, the people laid snares for other men and grew fat with the illegal gains.” The cage “full of birds” becomes a house “full of deceit,” and the owners “are become great, and waxen rich.” The measure of the charge is verse 28: “they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless… and the right of the needy do they not judge.” The people who have the power to defend the helpless trap them.

The Church edition gives D&C 10:13 for “catch.” There the adversary “hath put into their hearts to do this, that by lying they may say they have caught you in the words.” Both passages describe a trap laid with deceit.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Literary Structure #

The refrain that closes two accusations

Verse 29 repeats verse 9 almost word for word, and each time it follows a catalog of sins.

Verse 29 repeats verse 9 almost word for word, and each time it follows a catalog of sins. The first accusation (verses 1–8) runs from false oaths to adultery; the second (verses 20–28) from lack of fear to the oppression of the fatherless. Between them is the judgment itself (verses 10–19). Both times the Lord puts His verdict as a question.

The question comes back after verse 29 with no reply, and verses 30–31 give the last accusation, against the prophets and priests, and end with a question as well: “what will ye do in the end thereof?” The chapter leaves its hearers where it found them, with the same question.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Related Scriptures #

Love to have it so

The worst charge in the chapter is that nobody forced this on the people.

The worst charge in the chapter is that nobody forced this on the people. “It was bad enough that the society of Judah was filled with corrupt prophets and priests, but the real national tragedy… was: ‘my people love to have it so.’” The prophets “prophesy falsely” and the priests “bear rule by their means,” and the people prefer it to the truth.

The Church edition links the verse to Jer. 7:8 (“ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit”) and to Lam. 4:13, which looks back on the fall of Jerusalem: “For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests.” It also refers the reader to the Topical Guide's “Priestcraft.” Nephi defines the term: “priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion” (2 Ne. 26:29). The two ends meet: a ministry that serves itself and a people who choose to be served that way.

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 5

The chapter begins with a search for a single righteous person and ends having found none. Isaiah speaks of a search with the same result: the Lord “saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him” (Isa. 59:16). The Church edition explains “no intercessor” as “no one able to help” and links it to Heb. 7:25, where Christ “ever liveth to make intercession” for those who come to God by Him; it explains “his arm brought salvation” as “The Lord brought salvation to man.” In Jeremiah 5 the Lord offers to pardon (verse 1) and holds back the full end (verses 10, 18). Jeremiah's search ends without a name; in Isaiah, where no one is found, the Lord Himself brings salvation.

Worth exploring next

The same search. Compare Gen. 18:23–33, Ezek. 22:30, and Isa. 59:15–16.
The false security. Read Jer. 7:1–15 and Jer. 28, where the prophets' promise of peace is tested.
Nephi on Jerusalem's ripeness. Read 1 Ne. 17:33–43.
The enemy named. Follow the north from Jer. 4:5–31 and Jer. 6:22–26 to Jer. 25:8–11.

Sources & further reading

“Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Chapter 23: As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap (Jeremiah 1–19), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
Scripture Central, “Why Did Some in Lehi’s Time Believe that Jerusalem Could Not Be Destroyed?”, KnoWhy #451.
Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.

I’ve studied Jeremiah 5