Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah’s Complaint
1You will be righteous, Lord,#Ezr 9:15; Neh 9:8,33; Ps 119:137
even if I bring a case against you.
Yet, I wish to contend with you:#Jb 9:14–15; 13:13–28; 23:2–17
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?#Ps 73
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
2You planted them,#Ps 1:3; Jr 17:7–8 and they have taken root.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,#12:2 Lit are near in their mouth
but far from their conscience.#12:2 Lit kidneys#Ps 28:3; Is 29:13
3As for you, Lord, you know me; you see me.#Ps 139; Jr 1:5
You test whether my heart is with you.#Ps 7:9; Jr 11:20
Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter#Jr 11:19
and set them apart for the day of killing.
4How long will the land mourn#Is 24:4–7; Jr 4:28; 23:10
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,#Zph 1:3
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”#12:4 LXX reads see our ways#Dt 32:20; Jb 22:13; Jr 29:11
The Lord’s Response
5If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble#12:5 Or you are secure in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?#Jr 50:44
6Even your brothers — your own father’s family —
even they were treacherous to you;#Jn 1:11
even they have cried out loudly after you.#Jr 11:19
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.
7I have abandoned my house;#Ezk 8:1–11:25
I have deserted my inheritance.
I have handed the love of my life
over to her enemies.
8My inheritance has behaved toward me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against me.
Therefore, I hate her.#Hs 9:15; Am 6:8
9Is my inheritance like a hyena#12:9 Hb obscure to me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;#Is 56:9; Jr 7:33
bring them to devour her.
10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled my plot of land.#Is 63:18
They have turned my desirable plot
into a desolate wasteland.
11They have made it a desolation.
It mourns, desolate, before me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.#Is 42:25
12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.#2Ch 15:5; Is 48:22; Ezk 13:16
13They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.#Lv 26:16; Dt 28:38; Hs 8:7; Mc 6:15; Hg 1:6
They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.#Is 55:2
Be put to shame by your harvests
because of the Lord’s burning anger.#Jr 4:26; 25:37–38
14This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all my evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to my people, Israel, I am about to uproot them#Jr 1:10; 18:7–8 from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion#Jr 30:18; 31:20; 33:26; 42:12 on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. 16If they will diligently learn the ways of my people#Is 2:2–4; Mc 4:1–5 — to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal — they will be built up among my people. 17However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”#Is 60:12
This is the Lord’s declaration.
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Jeremiah 12: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 12
12
1Thou indeed, O Lord, art just, if I plead with thee, but yet I will speak what is just to thee: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? Why is it well with all them that transgress and do wickedly?
2Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins.
3And thou, O Lord, hast known me, thou hast seen me and proved my heart with thee: gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4How long shall the land mourn and the herb of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and the birds are consumed: because they have said: He shall not see our last end.
5If thou hast wearied with running with footmen, how canst thou contend with horses? And if thou hast been secure in a land of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?
6For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, even they have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice. Believe them not when they speak good things to thee.
7I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance, I have given my dear soul into the land of her enemies.
8My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: is hath cried out against me. Therefore have I hated it.
9Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? Is it as a bird dyed throughout? Come ye, assemble yourselves, all the beasts of the earth, make haste to devour.
10Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard: they have trodden my portion under foot, they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness.
11They have laid it waste, and it hath mourned for me. With desolation is all the land made desolate, because there is none that considereth in the heart.
12The spoilers are come upon all the ways of the wilderness, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land to the other end thereof: there is no peace for all flesh.
13They have sown wheat and reaped thorns: they have received an inheritance, and it shall not profit them: you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce wrath of the Lord.
14Thus saith the Lord against all my wicked neighbours that touch the inheritance that I have shared out to my people Israel: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and I will pluck the house of Juda out of the midst of them.
15And when I shall have plucked them out, I will return and have mercy on them: and I will bring them back, every man to his inheritance and every man to his land.
16And it shall come to pass, if they will be taught and will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name: The Lord liveth, as they have taught my people to swear by Baal: that they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
17But if they will not hear, I will utterly pluck out and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.