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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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jeremiah 12
12
1 Certainly, O Lord, you are just. But if I may contend with you, while still speaking what is just to you: Why does the way of the impious prosper? Why is it well with all those who transgress and act unfairly?
2 You planted them, and they took root. They are prospering and bearing fruit. You are near to their mouths, but far from their hearts.
3 And you, O Lord, have known me well. You have seen me, and you have tested my heart with you. Gather them together like a flock for the sacrifice and sanctify them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the earth mourn? And how long shall the plants of every field whither because of the wickedness of the inhabitants within them? It has consumed the wild animals and the birds. For they said: "He will not see our very end."
5 "If you have struggled to run on foot, how will you be able to compete with horses? And if you have been secure in a land of peace, what will you do about the arrogance of the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even these have fought against you. And they have cried out after you with loud voice: 'You should not believe them, when they speak good things to you.' "
7 "I have abandoned my house. I have disowned my inheritance. I have given my beloved soul into the hand of its enemies.
8 My inheritance has become for me like a lion in the forest. It has uttered a voice against me, therefore, I have hated it.
9 Is my inheritance to me like a discolored bird? Is it like a bird that has entirely changed color? Approach and assemble, all beasts of the earth! Hurry, so that you may devour!
10 Many pastors have demolished my vineyard. They have trampled my portion. They have made my desirable portion into a desert of solitude.
11 They have squandered it, and it has grieved concerning me. The entire earth has become utterly desolate, because there is no one who understands with the heart."
12 The devastators have arrived, over all the ways of the wilderness. For the sword of the Lord will devour, from one end of the earth even to its furthest limits. There is no peace for all that is flesh.
13 They sowed wheat, but they reaped thorns. They received an inheritance, but it will not benefit them. You will be confounded by your own fruits, because of the wrath of the fury of the Lord.
14 Thus says the Lord against all my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance that I have distributed to my people Israel: "Behold, I will root them out of their own land, and I will root the house of Judah out of their midst.
15 And when I have rooted them out, I will turn back and take pity on them. And I will lead them back, one man to his inheritance, and another man to his land.
16 And this shall be: if they are taught and they learn the ways of my people, so that they swear by my name, 'As the Lord lives,' just as they had taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.
17 But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation unto utter destruction and perdition, says the Lord."
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