5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of YeruShalayim, 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.
5:2 And though they say, YHWH (יהוה) liveth; surely they swear falsely.
5:3 O YHWH (יהוה), [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.
5:4 Therefore I said, Surely these [are] poor; they are foolish: for they know not the derek YHWH (יהוה), [nor] the judgment of Eloheihem.
5:5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the derek of YHWH (יהוה), [and] the judgment of Eloheihem: but these have altogether broken the yoke, [and] burst the bonds.
5:6 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 meshuvot are increased.
5:7 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' batim (houses).
5:8 They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
5:9 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith YHWH (יהוה): and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they [are] not YHWH (יהוה)'S.
5:11 For beit Yisrael and beit Yehudah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith YHWH (יהוה).
5:12 They have belied YHWH (יהוה), and said, [It is] not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
5:13 And the Nevi'im shall become wind, and the word [is] not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
5:14 Wherefore thus saith YHWH (יהוה) Elohim Tzva'ot:
Because ye speak this Dvar, behold, I will make My Devarim in thy mouth an eish (fire), and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
5:15 Hinnei, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O beit Yisrael, saith YHWH (יהוה): it [is] a mighty nation, it [is] an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
5:16 Their quiver [is] as an open kever (grave), they [are] all mighty men.
5:17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy lechem, [which] thy banim and thy banot 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.
5:18 Nevertheless in those days, saith YHWH (יהוה), I will not make a full end with you.
5:19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth YHWH (יהוה) Eloheinu 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.
5:20 Declare this in beit Ya'akov, and publish it in Yehudah, saying,
5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
5:22 Fear ye not me? saith YHWH (יהוה): 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?
5:23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
5:24 Neither say they in their heart: "Let us now fear YHWH (יהוה) Eloheinu, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in His season: He reserveth unto us the shavu'ot (weeks) chukkot (appointed) katzir (harvest).
5:25 Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins have withholden good [things] from you.
5:26 For among My people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their batim (houses) full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
5:28 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.
5:29 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith YHWH (יהוה): shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
5:31 The Nevi'im prophesy falsely, and the Kohanim bear rule by their means; and My people love [to have it] so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?