Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah Questions the LORD
1“LORD, if I argued my case with you,
you would prove to be right.
Yet I must question you about matters of justice.
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why do dishonest people succeed?
2You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and bear fruit.
They always speak well of you,
yet they do not really care about you.
3But, LORD, you know me;
you see what I do,
and how I love you.
Drag these evil people away like sheep to be butchered;
guard them until it is time for them to be slaughtered.
4How long will our land be dry,
and the grass in every field be withered?
Animals and birds are dying
because of the wickedness of our people,
people who say, ‘God doesn't see what we are doing.’ ”#12.4 Some ancient translations what we are doing; Hebrew our latter end.
5The LORD said,
“Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people,
how can you race against horses?
If you can't even stand up in open country,
how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?
6Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you;
they join in the attacks against you.
Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words.”
The LORD's Sorrow because of his People
7The LORD says,
“I have abandoned Israel;
I have rejected my chosen nation.
I have given the people I love
into the power of their enemies.
8My chosen people have turned against me;
like a lion in the forest
they have roared at me,
and so I hate them.
9My chosen people are like a bird
attacked from all sides by hawks.
Call the wild animals
to come and join in the feast!
10Many foreign rulers have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my fields;
they have turned my lovely land into a desert.
11They have made it a wilderness;
it lies desolate before me.
The whole land has become a desert,
and no one cares.
12Across all the desert highlands
people have come to plunder.
I have sent war to destroy the entire land;
no one can live in peace.
13My people sowed wheat, but gathered weeds;
they have worked hard, but got nothing for it.
Because of my fierce anger
their crops have failed.”
The LORD's Promise to Israel's Neighbours
14The LORD says, “I have something to say about Israel's neighbours who have ruined the land I gave to my people Israel. I will take those wicked people away from their countries like an uprooted plant, and I will rescue Judah from them. 15But after I have taken them away, I will have mercy on them; I will bring each nation back to its own land and to its own country. 16If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear, ‘As the LORD lives’ — as they once taught my people to swear by Baal — then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper. 17But if any nation will not obey, then I will completely uproot it and destroy it. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
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Jeremiah 12: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 12
12
1Thou indeed, O Lord, art just, if I plead with thee, but yet I will speak what is just to thee: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? Why is it well with all them that transgress and do wickedly?
2Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins.
3And thou, O Lord, hast known me, thou hast seen me and proved my heart with thee: gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4How long shall the land mourn and the herb of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and the birds are consumed: because they have said: He shall not see our last end.
5If thou hast wearied with running with footmen, how canst thou contend with horses? And if thou hast been secure in a land of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?
6For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, even they have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice. Believe them not when they speak good things to thee.
7I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance, I have given my dear soul into the land of her enemies.
8My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: is hath cried out against me. Therefore have I hated it.
9Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? Is it as a bird dyed throughout? Come ye, assemble yourselves, all the beasts of the earth, make haste to devour.
10Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard: they have trodden my portion under foot, they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness.
11They have laid it waste, and it hath mourned for me. With desolation is all the land made desolate, because there is none that considereth in the heart.
12The spoilers are come upon all the ways of the wilderness, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land to the other end thereof: there is no peace for all flesh.
13They have sown wheat and reaped thorns: they have received an inheritance, and it shall not profit them: you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce wrath of the Lord.
14Thus saith the Lord against all my wicked neighbours that touch the inheritance that I have shared out to my people Israel: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and I will pluck the house of Juda out of the midst of them.
15And when I shall have plucked them out, I will return and have mercy on them: and I will bring them back, every man to his inheritance and every man to his land.
16And it shall come to pass, if they will be taught and will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name: The Lord liveth, as they have taught my people to swear by Baal: that they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
17But if they will not hear, I will utterly pluck out and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.