Jeremiah

Should I Not Seek Vengeance Myself?

“Go through the streets of Jerusalem; observe closely and take note. Search the entire city squares and find, if you can, even one man who acts justly and seeks the truth, that I may forgive this city.”

Even though they swear: “As surely as the Lord lives,” they do not mean what they say.

O Lord, are you not looking for truth? You struck them, but they did not feel it; you crushed them, but they rejected correction. They set their faces harder than a rock and refused to repent.

Then I thought: “Such are the poor; they act foolishly because they do not know the way of the Lord, the law of their God!

So I will go to the well-to-do and speak to them for they know the way of the Lord and the law of their God.” But they, too, have broken their yoke and burst their bonds!

That is whythe lion from the forest will slay them, the wolf from the desert will destroy them, and the leopard lurks around their cities. Anyone who goes out is torn to pieces, for great is their sin, and many are their betrayals!

“Why should I forgive you? Your children have rejected me and sworn by false gods. I provided all they needed, yet they committed adultery and went to the harlot’s house. They are well-fed,

lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.

Shall I not hold them accountable? —this is the Lord’s declaration— shall I not punish a nation like this?

Go up, nations, through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not completely destroy my vine. Cut off her branches because they are not the Lord’s.

For the people of Israel and Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me —it is the Lord speaking.

They have spoken falsely about the Lord, Saying: “He does not exist; no harm will happen to us; we will see neither the sword n or famine!

As for the prophets, they are just wind. God doesn’t speak to them.

Because of this, the Lord God of Hosts has spoken: “This is what I am going to do to them: I will place words in your mouth. They will be like fire, and this people will be the wood it devours.”

People of Israel! I will bring against you a nation from far away to attack you. It will be a nation established long ago and that has endured for a long time. It will be a nation whose language you will not understand. Its people will speak words that you will not comprehend.

All of its soldiers are strong and mighty. Their arrows will send you to your grave.

They will consume your harvest and your food, devour your sons and daughters, devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. They will devastate the fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

But even in those days —says the Lord— I will not completely destroy them.

And when they ask: “Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?” You should tell 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 your own.”

Declare this to the people of Jacob and make it known in Judah.

Listen, foolish and senseless people! Who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear!

Do you not fear me? —says the Lord— Will you not tremble before me? I have set the sand as a limit to the sea, an eternal barrier it may never pass; its waves toss but cannot prevail; they roar but cannot go beyond it.

But these people’s hearts are rebellious and stubborn; they have turned aside and gone away.

They do not say in their hearts: “Let us fear the Lord our God, who sends the rain in season and has prepared the harvest for us.”

Your crimes have turned order into chaos; your sins have deprived you of these blessings.

For among my people are scoundrels; they set traps like fowlers and catch human beings.

Their houses are filled with loot, like a cage full of birds. It has made them rich and powerful;

they have become fat and sleek. Great is their wickedness; there is no justice in their judgment, for they do not protect the orphan’s rights nor defend the needy’s cause!

Should I not severely punish them for such actions? —it is the Lord who speaks— Should I not take vengeance on a people like them?

A terrible and detestable thing has happened in the land.

Prophets prophesy lies, and priests teach what pleases them, and my people like it to be so. But what will you do soon?