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 defend the rights of the needy.
THE SURROUNDING PASSAGE
Jeremiah 5:28 in context
Jeremiah 5:25–31
25
“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
26
For wicked men are found among my people. 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
Selected verse
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 defend the rights of the needy.
29
“Shouldn’t I punish for these things?” says the LORD. “Shouldn’t 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?
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