Jeremiah 12:7-17

¶“I have abandoned My house, I have given up My [precious] inheritance (Judah); I have given the [dearly] beloved of My life Into the hands of her enemies. “My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has raised her voice and roared against Me; So I have come to [treat her as if I] hate her. “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me [unlike the others]? Are the birds of prey (enemies) surrounding her on every side? Go, gather all the [wild] beasts of the field; Bring them to devour [her]! “Many shepherds (invaders) have destroyed My vineyard (Judah), They have trampled My field underfoot; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness. “They have made it a wasteland, Desolate, it mourns before Me; The whole land has been made a wasteland, Because no man takes it to heart. “Destroyers have come On all the caravan roads in the desert, For the sword of the LORD (Babylon) is devouring From one end of the land even to the other; No one has peace or a way of escape. “They have planted wheat but have reaped thorns; They have exhausted themselves but without profit. So be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce and raging anger of the LORD.” Thus says the LORD regarding all My evil neighbors (Gentile nations) who strike at the inheritance which I have granted to My people Israel, “Behold, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them back again, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. And if these [neighboring nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, saying, ‘As the LORD lives’—even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up among My people. But if [any nation] will not listen and obey, I will [completely] uproot and destroy that nation, says the LORD.”