Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah’s Complaint
1You will be in the right, O Yahweh, when I complain to you.
Even so, let me speak my claims with you.
Why does the way of the wicked succeed?
All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease.
2Not only do you plant them, they take root.
They grow, but also they produce fruit.
You are near in their mouths,
but far from their inmost beings.#Literally “kidneys”
3But you, O Yahweh, you know me,
you see me, and you test that my heart is with you.
Tear them apart like sheep for the slaughtering,
and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
4How long#Literally “Until when” will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up,
because of the wickedness of those who live in it?
The animals and the birds#Hebrew “bird” are swept away,
because they have said, “He does not see our future.”
The Lord’s Reply
5“If you run with foot soldiers and they have made you weary,
then how will you compete with horses?
If you have fallen in a peaceful land,#Literally “a land of peace”
then how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6For even your relatives, and the house of your father,
even they have dealt treacherously with you,
even they call loudly#Literally “full” after you.
You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.
7I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance.
I have given the beloved one of my heart#Literally “soul” into the hand of her enemies.
8My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest.
She has lifted up against me her voice; therefore#Literally “unto thus” I hate her.
9The lair of the hyena is my inheritance to me,
the birds of prey#Hebrew “bird of prey” are all around her.
Go, gather all of the animals#Hebrew “animal” of the field,
bring them to come and devour.#Literally “to food”
10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
they have trampled down my plot of land.
They have made my pleasant field#Literally “the plot of land of my desire”
like the desert#Or “wilderness” of desolation.
11They have made it a desolation.
Desolate, it mourns to me.
All the land is made desolate,
but there is no person taking it to heart.
12Upon all the barren heights in the desert#Or “wilderness” destroyers have come,
for the sword of Yahweh devours,
from one end of the land to the other end of the land,
there is no peace for all flesh.
13They have sown wheat and they have reaped thorns.
They are exhausted, they do not profit.
And they will be ashamed of your produce,
because of the burning anger#Literally “the blaze of the nose” of Yahweh.”
14Thus says Yahweh concerning all of the evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I gave as an inheritance to my people Israel: “Look, I am about to drive them out from their land, and the house of Judah I will drive out from among them. 15And then#Literally “And it will happen” after my driving them out, I will once again have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, and each one to his land. 16And then,#Literally “And it will happen” if they diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘as Yahweh lives,’#Literally “the life of Yahweh” even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will live in the midst of my people. 17But if they do not listen, then I will completely uproot and destroy that nation.”#Literally “I will drive out the nation that driving out and destroying” declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh.
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Jeremiah 12
12
Jeremiah Complains to the Lord
1Whenever I complain
to you, Lord,
you are always fair.
But now I have questions
about your justice.
Why is life easy for sinners?
Why are they successful?
2You plant them like trees;
you let them prosper
and produce fruit.
Yet even when they praise you,
they don't mean it.
3But you know, Lord,
how faithful I've always been,
even in my thoughts.
So drag my enemies away
and butcher them like sheep!
4How long will the ground be dry
and the pasturelands parched?
The birds and animals
are dead and gone.
And all of this happened because
the people are so sinful.
They even brag, “God can't see
the sins we commit.”#12.4 God can't see the sins we commit: One ancient translation; Hebrew “He won't live to see what happens to us.”
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5Jeremiah, if you get tired
in a race against people,
how can you possibly run
against horses?
If you fall in open fields,
what will happen in the forest
along the Jordan River?
6Even your own family
has turned against you.
They act friendly,
but don't trust them.
They're out to get you,
and so is everyone else.
The Lord Is Furious with His People
7I loved my people and chose them
as my very own.
But now I will reject them
and hand them over
to their enemies.
8My people have turned against me
and roar at me like lions.
That's why I hate them.
9My people are like a hawk
surrounded and attacked
by other hawks.#12.9 My people … other hawks: Or “My land has become a hyena's den with vultures circling above.”
Tell the wild animals
to come and eat their fill.
10My beautiful land is ruined
like a field or a vineyard
trampled by shepherds
and stripped bare
by their flocks.
11Every field I see lies barren,
and no one cares.
12A destroying army
marches along desert roads
and attacks everywhere.
They are my deadly sword;
no one is safe from them.
13My people, you planted wheat,
but because I was furious,
I let only weeds grow.
You wore yourselves out
and gained only shame!
The Lord Will Have Pity on Other Nations
14The Lord said:
I gave this land to my people Israel, but enemies around it have attacked and robbed it. So I will uproot them from their own countries just as I will uproot Judah from its land. 15But later, I will have pity on these nations and bring them back to their own lands. 16They once taught my people to worship Baal. But if they admit I am the only true God, and if they let my people teach them how to worship me, these nations will also become my people. 17However, if they don't listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.