Jeremiah 5:31

Prophesy falsely. — Literally, with a lie, so in Jeremiah 20:6; Jeremiah 29:9.

Bear rule by their means. — Better, move at their hands, i.e., according to their direction (as in 1 Chronicles 25:2; 2 Chronicles 23:18. The Vulg. and LXX. translate The priests applauded with their hands. So taken, the words of Jeremiah make the priests follow the prophets, not the prophets the instruments of the priests. In Isaiah 9:15 the prophets are as “the tail,” the basest element in the nation.

My people love to have it... — The words imply more than an acquiescence in evil, and describe an ethical condition like that of Romans 1:32. The final question implies that the people were running into a destruction which they would nave no power to avert.