Jeremiah 12
12
Why do the Wicked Prosper
1Righteous are You, Adonai, when I plead my case with You. Yet I speak with You about justice. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous thrive?
2You planted them, so they have taken root. They are growing, bearing fruit. You are near in their mouth, yet far from their mind.
3But You have known me, Adonai. You see me, and examine my heart toward You. Drag them off like sheep for slaughter. Set them apart for the day of carnage.
4How long will the land mourn and the grass of all the field wither? Because those living in it are evil, beasts and birds are swept away. For they said, “He cannot see our end.”
5“If you raced with those on foot and they wore you out, how can you compete with horses? If you are secure in a land of peace, how will you do in Jordan’s thickets?
6For even your brothers —your father’s house— even they will betray you, even they will shout out after you. Have no confidence in them, even if they say nice words to you.”
7“I have abandoned My House. I have forsaken My inheritance. I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.
8My inheritance became to Me like a lion in the forest— her voice roared against Me! Therefore I despised her.
9Is My inheritance a speckled vulture? Are vultures circling all around her? Go, gather all the wild beasts, bring them for devouring!
Adonai’s Vineyard in Ruins
10“Many shepherds ruined My vineyard. They trampled My property. They made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11They made it a wasteland. It mourns before Me, desolate. The whole land will be laid waste, because no one takes it to heart.”
12On all the bare hills in the wilderness destroyers have come. For the sword of Adonai is devouring from the one end of the land to the other end of the land. No flesh has shalom.
13They sowed wheat but reaped thorns. They wore themselves out, gaining nothing. So be ashamed of your harvest, because of Adonai’s fierce anger.
14Thus says Adonai, “As for all My evil neighbors who strike at the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel—I am about to uproot them from their land and pluck the house of Judah from them.
15Yet it will come to pass, after I have uprooted them, that I will again have compassion on them and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.
16“So it will come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people—to swear by My Name, ‘As Adonai lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be built up in the midst of My people.
17But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation, plucking it up and destroying it.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah Complains to God
1Lord, if I argue with you,
you are always right.
But I want to ask you about some things that don’t seem right.
Why are wicked people successful?
Why do people you cannot trust have such easy lives?
2You have put these wicked people here like plants with strong roots.
They grow and produce fruit.
With their mouths they say that you are near and dear to them,
but in their hearts they are really far away from you.
3But you know my heart, Lord.
You see me and test my mind.
Drag the evil people away like sheep to be killed.
Choose them for the day of slaughter.
4How much longer will the land be dry?
How long will the grass be dry and dead?
The birds and the animals of this land have all died,
and it is the fault of the wicked.
But they are saying,
“Jeremiah will not live long enough to see what happens to us.”
God’s Answer to Jeremiah
5“Jeremiah, if running in a race against men makes you tired,
how will you race against horses?
If you trip and fall in a safe place,
what will you do in a dangerous place?
What will you do in the thornbushes
that grow along the Jordan River?
6These men are your own brothers.
Members of your own family are making plans against you.
People from your own family are shouting at you.
Don’t trust them,
even when they speak to you like friends.
The Lord Rejects Judah
7“I have abandoned my house.
I have left my own property.#12:7 house … my own property That is, the people of Judah.
I have given Judah, the one I love,
to her enemies.
8My own people turned against me like a wild lion.
They roared at me, so I turned away from them.
9My own people have become like
a dying animal surrounded by vultures.
These birds are circling around her.
Come on, wild animals.
Come get something to eat.
10Many shepherds have ruined my vineyard.
They have trampled the plants in my field.
They have made my beautiful field a desert.
11They have turned it into an empty desert.
It is dry and dead.
The whole land has been ruined,
and no one is left to care for it.
12The empty hills are covered with soldiers
who have come to destroy everything.
The Lord is using them to punish that land from one end to the other.
No one is safe.
13The people will plant wheat,
but they will harvest only thorns.
They will work hard until they are very tired,
but they will get nothing for all their work.
They will be ashamed of their crop.
The Lord’s anger caused this.”
The Lord’s Promise to Israel’s Neighbors
14This is what the Lord says: “I will tell you what I will do for all those who live around the land of Israel. They are very wicked. They have destroyed the land I gave to the people of Israel. I will pull the evil people up and throw them out of their land, and I will pull the people of Judah up with them. 15But after I pull them up out of their land, I will feel sorry for them. I will bring each family back to its own property and to its own land. 16I want these people to learn their lessons well. In the past they taught my people to use Baal’s name to make promises. Now, I want them to learn to use my name. I want them to say, ‘As the Lord lives ….’ If they do that, I will allow them to be successful, and I will let them live among my people. 17But if a nation does not listen to my message, I will completely destroy it. I will pull it up like a dead plant.” This message is from the Lord.
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