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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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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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.