Jeremiah 12-13

New International Version

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,^(A) Lord,
    when I bring a case^(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:^(C)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?^(D)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
²You have planted^(E) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.^(F)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.^(G)
³Yet you know me, Lord;
    you see me and test^(H) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep^(I) to be butchered!
    Set them apart for the day of slaughter!^(J)
⁴How long will the land lie parched^(K)
    and the grass in every field be withered?^(L)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
    the animals and birds have perished.^(M)
Moreover, the people are saying,
    “He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble^[a] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets^(N) by^[b] the Jordan?
⁶Your relatives, members of your own family—
    even they have betrayed you;
    they have raised a loud cry against you.^(O)
Do not trust them,
    though they speak well of you.^(P)

⁷“I will forsake^(Q) my house,
    abandon^(R) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love^(S)
    into the hands of her enemies.^(T)
⁸My inheritance has become to me
    like a lion^(U) in the forest.
She roars at me;
    therefore I hate her.^(V)
⁹Has not my inheritance become to me
    like a speckled bird of prey
    that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.^(W)
¹⁰Many shepherds^(X) will ruin my vineyard
    and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
    into a desolate wasteland.^(Y)
¹¹It will be made a wasteland,^(Z)
    parched and desolate before me;^(AA)
the whole land will be laid waste
    because there is no one who cares.
¹²Over all the barren heights in the desert
    destroyers will swarm,
for the sword^(AB) of the Lord^(AC) will devour^(AD)
    from one end of the land to the other;^(AE)
    no one will be safe.^(AF)
¹³They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
    they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.^(AG)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
    because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”^(AH)

¹⁴This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance^(AI) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot^(AJ) them from their lands and I will uproot^(AK) the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion^(AL) and will bring^(AM) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. ¹⁶And if they learn^(AN) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’^(AO)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal^(AP)—then they will be established among my people.^(AQ) ¹⁷But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy^(AR) it,” declares the Lord.

A Linen Belt

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” ²So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

³Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:^(AS) ⁴“Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath^[c]^(AT) and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” ⁵So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.^(AU)

⁶Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” ⁷So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride^(AV) of Jerusalem. ¹⁰These wicked people, who refuse to listen^(AW) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts^(AX) and go after other gods^(AY) to serve and worship them,^(AZ) will be like this belt—completely useless!^(BA) ¹¹For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown^(BB) and praise and honor.^(BC) But they have not listened.’^(BD)

Wineskins

¹²“Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ ¹³then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness^(BE) all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. ¹⁴I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity^(BF) or mercy or compassion^(BG) to keep me from destroying^(BH) them.’”

Threat of Captivity

¹⁵Hear and pay attention,
    do not be arrogant,
    for the Lord has spoken.^(BI)
¹⁶Give glory^(BJ) to the Lord your God
    before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble^(BK)
    on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
    but he will turn it to utter darkness
    and change it to deep gloom.^(BL)
¹⁷If you do not listen,^(BM)
    I will weep in secret
    because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
    overflowing with tears,^(BN)
    because the Lord’s flock^(BO) will be taken captive.^(BP)

¹⁸Say to the king^(BQ) and to the queen mother,^(BR)
    “Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns^(BS)
    will fall from your heads.”
¹⁹The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
    and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah^(BT) will be carried into exile,
    carried completely away.

²⁰Look up and see
    those who are coming from the north.^(BU)
Where is the flock^(BV) that was entrusted to you,
    the sheep of which you boasted?
²¹What will you say when the Lord sets over you
    those you cultivated as your special allies?^(BW)
Will not pain grip you
    like that of a woman in labor?^(BX)
²²And if you ask yourself,
    “Why has this happened to me?”^(BY)—
it is because of your many sins^(BZ)
    that your skirts have been torn off^(CA)
    and your body mistreated.^(CB)
²³Can an Ethiopian^[d] change his skin
    or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
    who are accustomed to doing evil.^(CC)

²⁴“I will scatter you like chaff^(CD)
    driven by the desert wind.^(CE)
²⁵This is your lot,
    the portion^(CF) I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten^(CG) me
    and trusted in false gods.^(CH)
²⁶I will pull up your skirts over your face
    that your shame may be seen^(CI)—
²⁷your adulteries and lustful neighings,
    your shameless prostitution!^(CJ)
I have seen your detestable acts
    on the hills and in the fields.^(CK)
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
    How long will you be unclean?”^(CL)