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Jeremiah 5: Search for One Just Soul

God sends Jeremiah through Jerusalem's streets to find a single honest person, but rich and poor alike have rejected him and the prophets prophesy falsely.

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Jeremiah 5 (WEB)

1 “Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.

2 Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ surely they swear falsely.”

3 O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

4 Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God.

5 I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.

7 “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.

8 They were as fed horses roaming at large: everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

9 Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh; “and shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 “Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh’s.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says Yahweh.

12 They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.

13 The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.”

14 Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don’t know, neither understand what they say.

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

17 They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

18 “But even in those days,” says Yahweh, “I will not make a full end with you.

19 It will happen, when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just like you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

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

21 ‘Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don’t see; who have ears, and don’t hear:

22 Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it.’

23 “But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.

24 Neither do they say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’

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

26 For among my people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.

28 They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t judge the right of the needy.

29 “Shall I not punish for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 “An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?

Summary

God invites Jeremiah to run through the streets of Jerusalem and search the broad places for even one person who does justice and seeks truth, promising to pardon the city for that one's sake. None can be found. Even when people swear by Yahweh's name, they swear falsely. Jeremiah first supposes the fault lies with the poor and ignorant, then goes to the great men who should know God's way, only to find that they too have broken the yoke. So judgment is appointed like wild beasts because their transgressions are many. God asks how he can pardon a people whose children have forsaken him, committed adultery, and grown fat on his good gifts. They deny that any evil will come, dismissing the prophets as mere wind. God therefore promises to make his words fire in Jeremiah's mouth and to bring a mighty, ancient nation from far away, whose language they do not know, to devour their harvests, flocks, and fortified cities, though even then he will not make a full end. He charges them as a foolish people with eyes that do not see, who will not even fear the God who set the sand as a boundary for the sea. Worst of all, the prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and the people love to have it so.

Voices

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who searches for one just soul, marvels at the people's refusal to fear him, and summons a distant nation as the instrument of his judgment.
  • Jeremiah — The prophet sent to search the city, who probes both poor and great and finds none who truly know the way of the Lord.
  • The prophets and priests — The leaders who prophesy falsely and rule by their own authority, while the people love to have it so, hardening the whole society in sin.

Key Verse

Jeremiah 5:1 (WEB)

“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.

Lessons Learned

  • Widespread sin can corrupt a whole society, from the least to the greatest.
  • God is so ready to show mercy that he would spare a city for the sake of even one just person.
  • Refusing correction hardens the heart until it is harder than rock.
  • When leaders prophesy falsely and people love it so, judgment will surely follow.
  • God looks for the just and the truthful. He searches “if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her” (Jeremiah 5:1, WEB). God's eyes are on integrity, not appearances.
  • Sin runs through every class. Both the poor and the great “have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds” (Jeremiah 5:5, WEB). No social standing exempts anyone from the need to repent.
  • Hard hearts refuse correction. “They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return” (Jeremiah 5:3, WEB). Resisting God's discipline only deepens our resistance.
  • People often prefer comfortable lies. “The prophets prophesy falsely… and my people love to have it so” (Jeremiah 5:31, WEB). We are responsible for the teachers we choose to embrace.
  1. What does God's search for one just person reveal about both the city's condition and his mercy?
  2. Why does Jeremiah's investigation of the poor and then the great matter to the argument?
  3. What does it mean that the people have made their faces harder than rock?
  4. How are the prophets, priests, and people each implicated in the closing verses?
  5. Where are you tempted to prefer comfortable, flattering words over the truth God speaks?
  1. That God cannot find even one just, truth-seeking person shows how pervasive the corruption is, while his offer to pardon the whole city for one such person's sake reveals an astonishing readiness to show mercy (5:1). Both judgment and grace are on display.
  2. Jeremiah first excuses the poor as ignorant, then turns to the leaders who should know God's law, only to find they too have broken the yoke (5:4-5). The point is that sin is not confined to one group; it has thoroughly saturated the society.
  3. It means they have repeatedly refused God's discipline until they are utterly resistant to correction (5:3). Help the group see how rejecting conviction over time can calcify the heart against God's voice.
  4. The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and the people love to have it so (5:31). Each shares the guilt; the leaders mislead, and the people willingly embrace the deception, leaving no innocent party.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to examine where they seek out voices that affirm rather than challenge them, and to welcome truth even when it is uncomfortable. As leader, keep the tone humble and self-searching.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.