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Jer.5:1. Walk the ways of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and look for its hills: if you find a man in him, if he is found doing justice and seeking “faith, I will be merciful to him, says the Lord.” Both their wickedness and the Lord’s love for mankind are unparalleled. For they unanimously give themselves over to lawlessness, and the Lord, even for the sake of one who lives according to the law, promises forgiveness to all. What is said: “behold, and know, and seek,” means: investigate with all accuracy. (Jer.5:2). “The Lord lives,” they say, but “they swear by lies.” For in what was said above, the Lord commanded not just to swear by Him instead of idols, but to swear according to the truth. Then the Prophet continues: Jer.5:3. Your eyes see faith, i.e. You bear witness to what I say, because you oversee everything. “You beat them, and without being hurt, you crushed them, and did not want to accept punishment.” The first signifies a moderate punishment, and the words “thou hast crushed” mean an intensified punishment. But for them, due to their hardness of heart, neither one nor the other was useful. For this is expressed by the Prophet in the following words: “You have hardened your face more than stone, and do not want to turn.” The sim shows their shamelessness and rebellion. Jer.5:4. I said: I am a wretched being; I have not been able to do this, and I have not followed the path of the Lord and the judgment of my God. (Jer.5:5). “I will go to the rulers and speak to them, for you have known the way of the Lord and judge your God. The Prophet called priests and teachers of the law “sovereign”, and “poor” - all others, as those who have not acquired the wealth of knowledge of God. However, he accuses both of them of lawlessness; for it adds the following: “And behold, with one accord, breaking the yoke, breaking the bonds.” The Prophet did not just say this: but, since the Lord promised to show love for mankind, if there is even one who carries out justice and seeks faith, he makes it clear that he searched, as was commanded, and found that everyone had broken the yoke of the law. Jer.5:6. For this reason, the lion will strike them from the oak grove, and the wolf will destroy them even to their houses, and the lynx will be vigilant over their cities. Leo calls Nebuchadnezzar, and “wolf,” as I think, the archmagir Nebuzardan, who, being sent subsequently, burned the city and the church of God, and enslaved the remaining inhabitants; and “trot,” as I believe, is called Antiochus Epiphanes, because the divine Daniel also saw the Macedonian kingdom as likened to a lynx. By all of them, says the Prophet, you are caught because of idolatry. Then the court says: Jer.5:7. Why will I be merciful to you? He also lists the types of lawlessness, for, he says, not only you and your children swear by gods, “who are not gods,” but you also curse others with them. And I have given you abundant blessings; for this is expressed by the words: “and they were satisfied.” On top of this, you dissolve other people’s marriages, so that by your lust you become like (Jer. 5:8) “misogynist horses.” Then it concludes: Jer.5:9. Food about these I won’t visit? says: “Lord: or does not my soul take revenge on the tongue of the chin?” That is, is it possible to ignore this? And can the verdict of truth be reversed? Therefore, he pronounces this sentence and commands that the walls be destroyed and the fortifications destroyed. However, justice dissolves blissfully; for he says: Jer.5:10. But you will not create the ending: leave its supports, for they are the Lord’s. And through this he makes clear the return and construction of the church. He also predicts the reason for the sad events, namely, that, having become lawless and ungrateful to their benefactor, they indulged in insolence and thought that these sorrows would not overcome them. For they said: Jer.5:12. Evil will not come against us, and we will not see sword or famine. The false prophets were guilty of this, and the Prophet accuses them in the following words: Jer.5:13. Your prophets were in the wind, and the word of the Lord was not in them. In the word: “to the wind” signifies the vanity and deceit of what the false prophets said; because they did not receive God's Spirit. That is why God says to the Prophet: the word that I speak with your tongue will destroy them like fire (Jer. 5:14). It also shows the very image of punishment: Jer.5:15. Behold, I will bring a tongue against you from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, an old tongue Means Assyrian; calls them “an old language”: because their kingdom is older than all; After the flood, Nimrod was the first to reign among them. Then he says that his speech is foreign, and his quiver is likened (Jer. 5:16) to an “open tomb”, in terms of the lethality of the arrows and the accuracy of the shooting. He also talks about the devastation of the land, the looting of houses, and the beating of people. But he also predicts the destruction of enemies and the return of the Jews. For he says: Jer.5:18. Otherwise, in one of these days I will not destroy you. And because they suffered from insensibility and did not see their own iniquities, they said: Jer.5:19. Why would the Lord our God do all this for us? then God commands the Prophet to tell them: “As you forsook Me and served as a strange god in your land: so serve as a strange god in a land that is not yours.” What a fair sentence! Because you have denied My kingdom, says God; then I will hand you over to other rulers. And he orders them to listen to this carefully, and calls them violent and senseless; because they did not use their bodily senses as they should. For he says: Jer.5:21. They have eyes but do not see, they have ears but do not hear. Shows that they are more unreasonable than inanimate things. For the sea, says God, keeps its limits; I laid the boundaries for him, not an adamantine wall, but insignificant sand. However, when it is agitated, it does not transgress these aisles, but, having approached them, returns back. The Jews were distinguished by reason, and loved foolishness. For God says: Jer.5:23. These people have a heart that is not obedient and submissive. They do not feel the blessings bestowed by me. For I always give them the rain “early and late.” And after this they enjoy the fruits of the earth; for this is what the Lord said: Jer.5:24. During the fulfillment of the commandment of the harvest; because His will is like a certain command, and He gives the rich fruits of the earth. However, seeing that you were indulging in iniquities, I deprived you of these benefits. Jer.5:26. For wickedness has become present among My people, and I have set a net for men to destroy, and have caught it. (Jer.5:27). “Like the cage is full of birds, so their houses are full of flattery.” This signified their secret plans. He also talks about wealth collected by untruth, about arrogance as a consequence of wealth, about lawless life, about the insult of orphans and widows. And after this he adds: Jer.5:29. I won’t visit this food for the sake of it? Or will my soul not take revenge on the calico tongue? It is not in My justice to leave this in contempt. Jer.5:30. Horror and terrible things happened on earth. When, beyond all hope, we see something done unlawfully, then we have the custom of saying this: I am horrified by this, I shudder when I hear this. Then God explains the reasons for this: your “unrighteous prophecy,” that is, falsely, “and the priests clasped their hands with their hands,” (and this is a sign of agreement), “and my people loved such a thing” (this showed the general agreement of all to evil), “and what will you do in the last of these?” that is, when the punishment befalls; lets you see it in the words that follow.