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.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 12: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 12
12
1Lord, when I complain to you, you always show yourself to be in the right. Even so I still want to present my case to you. Why is it that wicked people do so well? Why do those who are unfaithful to you live so comfortably? 2You planted them, and they've taken root, grown, and produced fruit. They're always talking about you but they don't think of you, even for a moment.
3But you know me, Lord, you see me, and examine what I think about you. Drag off these people like sheep to be slaughtered; keep them apart for the time when they're killed. 4How long will the land have to mourn and the grass in every field be dried up because of the evil of the people who live there? The animals and birds have died out because the people have said, “He#12:4. “He” could apply to the Lord or to Jeremiah, either refuting God's foreknowledge or Jeremiah's prophetic claims. doesn't know what's going to happen to us.”
5The Lord says,#12:5. “The Lord says”: supplied for clarity. Once you've become worn out in a foot race against men, how would you win racing against horses? If you trip up in open ground, how would you do in the tangled undergrowth beside the Jordan?
6Even your own brothers and your father's family have betrayed you; they have publicly criticized you. Don't trust them when they talk nicely to you!
7I have given up on my people; I have abandoned the nation I chose. I have handed over the ones I truly love to their enemies. 8They've turned into a wild lion, roaring at me—that's why I hate them. 9My people are like a spotted bird of prey#12:9. “Spotted bird of prey”: or “hyena.” to me with other birds of prey circling to attack it. Go and bring all the wild animals to eat up the carcass.
10Many shepherds#12:10. “Shepherds”: referring to the leaders of invading armies. have come and destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down the crops in my field. They have turned my pleasant land into an empty wasteland. 11They have made it into a desert; it mourns before me, lying desolate. The whole country is a wasteland, but no one cares. 12The destructive armies have crossed all the bare desert hills for the Lord's sword destroys from one end of the country to the other. No one has any peace.
13My people sowed wheat but harvested thorns. They wore themselves out but gained no benefit. You should be ashamed of such a poor harvest, caused by the Lord's furious anger.
14This is what the Lord says: When it comes to these evil nearby nations who attack the country that I gave to my people Israel, I'm going to uproot them from their land. I'm also going to uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15However, once I have uprooted them, I will have mercy on them again, and bring each one back to their property and their land.
16If they will honestly learn the ways of my people and respect me, making their vows to me, just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will do well among my people. 17But if they refuse to obey, then I will not only uproot that nation but I will completely destroy it, declares the Lord.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com