Read & explore together
No One Is Just
Jeremiah 5:1–13 searches Jerusalem for even one person who does justice and seeks truth. The passage exposes empty words, stubborn refusal to change, and confident denial that judgement will come.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In this prophecy, Yahweh calls for a search through Jerusalem to find anyone who does justly and seeks truth. The passage then moves through false swearing, refusal to accept correction, rebellion among both poor and great, and a warning that judgement is deserved because Israel and Judah have dealt treacherously with Yahweh.
Jeremiah 5:1–13Main takeaway
Jeremiah 5:1–13 teaches that Yahweh sees false religion, persistent unfaithfulness, and denial of his word, so pardon cannot rest on empty claims.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A search for one truthful personThe passage opens with a challenge to search Jerusalem carefully. If even one person can be found who does justly and seeks truth, Yahweh says he will pardon her.
Explanation
The passage opens with a challenge to search Jerusalem carefully. If even one person can be found who does justly and seeks truth, Yahweh says he will pardon her. Yet the next line shows the problem: people use Yahweh’s name, but their oath is false. The issue is not words alone, but truthfulness before God.
02Correction rejectedJeremiah speaks to Yahweh about people who have been struck and consumed, yet they were not grieved and would not receive correction.
Explanation
Jeremiah speaks to Yahweh about people who have been struck and consumed, yet they were not grieved and would not receive correction. Their faces are described as harder than rock, and they refused to return. This shows a settled resistance. They did not merely fail once; they resisted truth and refused to turn back.
03From poor to great, all rebelJeremiah first thinks the poor may be ignorant of Yahweh’s way and law. He then turns to the great, expecting better from those who should know.
Explanation
Jeremiah first thinks the poor may be ignorant of Yahweh’s way and law. He then turns to the great, expecting better from those who should know. But they too have broken the yoke and burst the bonds. The passage presents guilt across the community, not only among one group.
04Why judgement is announcedThe warning grows stronger. Animal images picture danger because transgressions and backsliding have increased.
Explanation
The warning grows stronger. Animal images picture danger because transgressions and backsliding have increased. Yahweh asks how he can pardon people who forsook him, swore by no gods, and pursued adultery. Israel and Judah dealt treacherously with him and denied that evil, sword, or famine would come. They even dismissed prophets as wind, showing contempt for Yahweh’s word.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What kind of person was Jeremiah told to look for in Jerusalem?
Notice the two linked qualities in the search: doing justly and seeking truth, not merely speaking religious words.
02How does the passage describe the people's response to correction?
Look for the phrases about not being grieved, refusing correction, and refusing to return.
03Why does Yahweh say judgement is justified?
List the reasons the passage names, including forsaking Yahweh, false worship, adultery, treachery, and denying his warning.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Jeremiah 5:1–13
1“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does justly, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her.
2Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ surely they swear falsely.”
3O 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.
4Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know Yahweh’s way, nor the law of their God.
5I 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.
6Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has 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.
8They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh. “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.
11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says Yahweh.
12They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he. Evil won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine.
13The prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them.”