Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah Complains to the Lord
1Whenever I complain
to you, Lord,
you are always fair.
But now I have questions
about your justice.
Why is life easy for sinners?
Why are they successful?
2You plant them like trees;
you let them prosper
and produce fruit.
Yet even when they praise you,
they don't mean it.
3But you know, Lord,
how faithful I've always been,
even in my thoughts.
So drag my enemies away
and butcher them like sheep!
4How long will the ground be dry
and the pasturelands parched?
The birds and animals
are dead and gone.
And all of this happened because
the people are so sinful.
They even brag, “God can't see
the sins we commit.”#12.4 God can't see the sins we commit: One ancient translation; Hebrew “He won't live to see what happens to us.”
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5Jeremiah, if you get tired
in a race against people,
how can you possibly run
against horses?
If you fall in open fields,
what will happen in the forest
along the Jordan River?
6Even your own family
has turned against you.
They act friendly,
but don't trust them.
They're out to get you,
and so is everyone else.
The Lord Is Furious with His People
7I loved my people and chose them
as my very own.
But now I will reject them
and hand them over
to their enemies.
8My people have turned against me
and roar at me like lions.
That's why I hate them.
9My people are like a hawk
surrounded and attacked
by other hawks.#12.9 My people … other hawks: Or “My land has become a hyena's den with vultures circling above.”
Tell the wild animals
to come and eat their fill.
10My beautiful land is ruined
like a field or a vineyard
trampled by shepherds
and stripped bare
by their flocks.
11Every field I see lies barren,
and no one cares.
12A destroying army
marches along desert roads
and attacks everywhere.
They are my deadly sword;
no one is safe from them.
13My people, you planted wheat,
but because I was furious,
I let only weeds grow.
You wore yourselves out
and gained only shame!
The Lord Will Have Pity on Other Nations
14The Lord said:
I gave this land to my people Israel, but enemies around it have attacked and robbed it. So I will uproot them from their own countries just as I will uproot Judah from its land. 15But later, I will have pity on these nations and bring them back to their own lands. 16They once taught my people to worship Baal. But if they admit I am the only true God, and if they let my people teach them how to worship me, these nations will also become my people. 17However, if they don't listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah’s Question
1Righteous #Ezra 9:15; Ps. 51:4; Jer. 11:20are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
#Job 12:6; Jer. 5:27, 28; Hab. 1:4; Mal. 3:15Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
2You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
#Is. 29:13; Ezek. 33:31; Matt. 15:8; Mark 7:6You are near in their mouth
But far from their mind.
3But You, O Lord, #Ps. 17:3know me;
You have seen me,
And You have #Ps. 7:9; 11:5; Jer. 11:20tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
And prepare them for #Jer. 17:18; 50:27; James 5:5the day of slaughter.
4How long will #Jer. 23:10; Hos. 4:3the land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
#Jer. 9:10; Hos. 4:3; Hab. 3:17The beasts and birds are consumed,
#Ps. 107:34For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted, they wearied you,
Then how will you do in #Josh. 3:15; 1 Chr. 12:15the floodplain of the Jordan?
6For even #Gen. 37:4–11; Job 6:15; Ps. 69:8; Jer. 9:4, 5your brothers, the house of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you;
Yes, they have called a multitude after you.
#Ps. 12:2; Prov. 26:25Do not believe them,
Even though they speak smooth words to you.
7“I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.
8My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;
It cries out against Me;
Therefore I have #Hos. 9:15; Amos 6:8hated it.
9My heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;
The vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
#Lev. 26:22Bring them to devour!
10“Many #Jer. 6:3; 23:1rulers have destroyed #Ps. 80:8–16; Is. 5:1–7My vineyard,
They have #Is. 63:18trodden My portion underfoot;
They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it #Jer. 10:22; 22:6desolate;
Desolate, it mourns to Me;
The whole land is made desolate,
Because #Is. 42:25no one takes it to heart.
12The plunderers have come
On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,
For the sword of the Lord shall devour
From one end of the land to the other end of the land;
No flesh shall have peace.
13#Lev. 26:16; Deut. 28:38; Mic. 6:15; Hag. 1:6They have sown wheat but reaped thorns;
They have put themselves to pain but do not profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
14Thus says the Lord: “Against all My evil neighbors who #Jer. 2:3; 50:11, 12; Zech. 2:8touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit—behold, I will #Deut. 30:3; Ps. 106:47; Is. 11:11–16; Jer. 32:37pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15#Jer. 31:20; Lam. 3:32; Ezek. 28:25Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them #Amos 9:14and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. 16And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, #(Jer. 4:2); Zeph. 1:5to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be #(Eph. 2:20, 21; 1 Pet. 2:5)established in the midst of My people. 17But if they do not #Ps. 2:8–12; Is. 60:12obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the Lord.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.