Jeremiah 12
12
1If I took you to court, LORD,
you would win.
But I still have questions about your justice.
Why do guilty persons enjoy success?
Why are evildoers so happy?
2You plant them, and they take root;
they flourish and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3Yet you, LORD, you know me.
You see me.
You can tell that I love you.#12.3 Or You test my heart.
So drag them away
and butcher them like sheep.
Prepare them for the slaughterhouse.
4How long will the land mourn
and the grass in the fields dry up?
The animals and birds are swept away
due to the evil of those in the land.
The people say,
“God doesn’t see what we’re up to!”
5If you have raced with people and are worn out,
how will you compete with horses?
If you fall down in an open field,#12.5 Or If you are at ease only when in a peaceful land
how will you survive in the forest along the Jordan?
6Even your relatives, your very family,
are planning to trap you.
They are out to get you.
So don’t trust them,
even if they appear to be on your side.
God’s lament over Judah’s destruction
7I have abandoned my house;
I have deserted my inheritance.
I have given the one I love
into the power of her enemies.
8My inheritance has turned against me
like a lion in the forest;
she growls at me;
therefore, I have rejected her.
9My inheritance has become
like a bird of prey,
surrounded and attacked.#12.9 Heb uncertain
Go, gather all the wild animals for the feast.
10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my field;
they have reduced my treasured field
to a desolate wilderness.
11They have devastated her;
desolate, she cries out to me in distress:
“The whole land is desolate,
and no one seems to care.”
12Over all the desert roads
destroyers march;
for the sword of the LORD devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no one is safe.
13They have sown wheat and reaped weeds;
they have worn themselves out for nothing.
They will be ashamed of their#12.13 Or your harvest
on account of the LORD’s fierce anger.
14The LORD proclaims: The evil nations have seized the land#12.14 Or inheritance that I gave my people Israel. I’m going to dig them up from their own lands, and I will dig up the people of Judah from among them. 15And after I have dug them up, I will again have compassion on them and restore their inheritance and their land. 16And then, if they will learn the ways of my people, to make a solemn pledge in my name, “As the LORD lives,” just as they once taught my people to swear to Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people. 17But if they don’t listen, I will dig up that nation; yes, I will dig up and destroy, declares the LORD.
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Jeremiah 12: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah’s First Complaint
1Lord, if I complain to you,
you are always right.
But I want to ask you about the justice you give.
Why are evil people successful?
Why do dishonest people have such easy lives?
2You have put the evil people here.
They are like plants with strong roots.
They grow and produce fruit.
With their mouths they speak well of you.
But their hearts 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 butchered.
Set them aside for the day of killing.
4How much longer will the land stay dried up?
How long will the grass in every field be dead?
The animals and birds in the land have died.
And it is because the people are evil.
Yet, they are saying,
“God does not see what happens to us!”
God’s Answer to Jeremiah
5“If you get tired racing against men,
how can you race against horses?
You stumble in a country that is safe.
What will you do in the thick thornbushes 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 crying out against you.
Don’t trust them,
even when they speak to you like friends!
7“I have left Israel.
I have left my people.
I have given the people I love
to their enemies.
8My people have become
like a lion in the forest to me.
They roar at me.
So I hate them.
9My people have become to me
like a speckled bird attacked by hawks.
Go, gather the wild animals!
Bring them to get something to eat.
10Many shepherds will ruin my vineyards.
They will walk on the plants in my field.
They will turn my beautiful field
into an empty desert.
11They will turn my field into a desert.
It will be wilted and dead.
The whole country is an empty desert.
This is because no one who lives there cares.
12Many soldiers will march over those barren hills.
The Lord will use the armies to punish that land.
People from one end of the land to the other will be punished.
No one will be 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.
You will be ashamed of your poor harvest.
The Lord’s terrible anger has caused this.”
14This is what the Lord said to me: “Here is what I will do to those wicked people who take the land I gave my people, the Israelites. I will pull them up and throw them out of their land. And I will pull up the people of Judah from among them. 15But after I pull them up, I will feel sorry for them. I will bring each person back to his own property. And I will bring him back to his own land. 16I want them 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 surely as the Lord lives . . .’ If they do, I will allow them to be successful. And I will let them live among my people. 17But a nation might not listen to my message. If it doesn’t, I will pull it up completely and destroy it,” says the Lord.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.