But God’s people made fun of God’s prophets. They refused to listen to God’s prophets. They hated God’s messages. Finally God could not hold his anger any longer. God became angry at his people and there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
Jeremiah 5:12 - Easy To Read Version “Those people have lied about the Lord.\par They have said,\par ‘The Lord will not do anything to us.\par Nothing bad will happen to us.\par We will never see an army attack us.\par We will never starve.’\par Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: Amplified Bible - Classic Edition They have lied about and denied the Lord by saying, It is not He [Who speaks through His prophets]! Evil shall not come upon us; nor shall we see war or famine. American Standard Version (1901) They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: Common English Bible They have lied about the LORD and said, “He’ll do nothing! Disaster won’t come upon us; we won’t see war or famine.” Catholic Public Domain Version They have denied the Lord, and they have said, 'It is not him,' and, 'Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see famine and the sword.' Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version They have denied the Lord and said: It is not he and the evil shall not come upon us. We shall not see the sword and famine. |
But God’s people made fun of God’s prophets. They refused to listen to God’s prophets. They hated God’s messages. Finally God could not hold his anger any longer. God became angry at his people and there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
Those people think bad things will never happen to them.\par \{They say,\}\par “We will have fun and never be punished.”\par
A foolish person {\cf2\super [75]} says in his heart,\par “There is no God.”\par Foolish people do terrible, rotten things.\par Not even one of them does good.\par
If I have more than I need, then I will think I don’t need you. But if I am poor then I might steal. Then I will bring shame to the name of God.
Foreign idols don’t have the power\par to bring rain.\par The sky does not have the power\par to send showers of rain down.\par You are our only hope.\par You are the One who made all these things.”\par
Your ancestors did not say,\par ‘The Lord brought us from Egypt.\par The Lord led us through the desert.\par The Lord led us through a dry\par and rocky land.\par The Lord led us through a dark\par and dangerous land.\par No people live there.\par People don’t even travel through\par that land.\par But the Lord led us through that land.\par So where is the Lord now?’\par
I will also bring Jehoiachin king of Judah back to this place. Jehoiachin is the son of Jehoiakim. And I will bring back all those people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar forced to leave their homes and go to Babylon.’ This message is from the Lord. ‘So I will break the yoke that the king of Babylon put on the people of Judah!’”
Then I, Jeremiah, said, “Lord my Master, you have really tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You said to them, ‘You will have peace.’ But now the sword is pointing at their throats!”
So Jeremiah finished telling the people the message from the Lord their God. Jeremiah told them everything that the Lord had sent him to tell the people.
The prophets tell lies.\par The priests will not do\par what they were chosen to do. {\cf2\super [36]} \par And my people love it this way!\par But what will you people do\par when your punishment comes?”\par
My people have been hurt very badly.\par The prophets and priests\par should bandage those wounds.\par But they treat those wounds\par like they are only a small scratch.\par They say,\par ‘It is all right, everything is fine!’\par But it is not all right!\par
“‘False prophets said they saw visions. They did their magic and said things would happen—but they lied. They said the Lord sent them—but they lied. They are still waiting for their lies to come true.
\{These people don’t want to listen to me.\}\par But if a man came telling lies\par then they would accept him.\par They would accept a false prophet\par if he comes and says,\par “There will be good times in the future,\par with plenty of wine and beer.”\par
The judges in Jerusalem accept bribes\par to help them decide who wins in court.\par The priests in Jerusalem must be paid\par before they will teach the people.\par People must pay the prophets\par before they will look into the future.\par And then those leaders expect the Lord\par to help them. They say,\par “The Lord lives here with us.\par So nothing bad will happen to us.”\par
“A person might hear these curses, but he might comfort himself and say, ‘I will continue doing what I want. Nothing bad will happen to me.’ That person might cause bad things to happen not only to himself but to everyone—even to the good people. [192]
When I come, I will talk about what Diotrephes is doing. He lies and says evil things about us. But that is not all he does! He refuses to help those brothers \{who are working to serve Christ\}. Diotrephes also stops those people who want to help the brothers. He makes those people leave the church (group of believers).
Watch the wagon. If the wagon goes toward Beth Shemesh in Israel’s own land, then the Lord has given us this great sickness. But if the cows do not go straight to Beth Shemesh, then we will know that Israel’s God has not punished us. We will know that our sickness just happened.”