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Jeremías cuestiona la justicia de Dios

12 Señor, tú siempre me haces justicia
    cuando llevo un caso ante ti.
Así que déjame presentarte esta queja:
¿Por qué los malvados son tan prósperos?
    ¿Por qué son tan felices los malignos?
Tú los has plantado,
    y ellos echaron raíces y han prosperado.
Tu nombre está en sus labios,
    aunque estás lejos de su corazón.
En cuanto a mí, Señor, tú conoces mi corazón;
    me ves y pruebas mis pensamientos.
¡Arrastra a esta gente como se lleva a las ovejas al matadero!
    ¡Apártalos para la masacre!

¿Hasta cuándo tendrá que llorar esta tierra?
    Incluso la hierba de los campos se ha marchitado.
Los animales salvajes y las aves han desaparecido
    debido a la maldad que hay en la tierra.
Pues la gente ha dicho:
    «¡El Señor no ve nuestro futuro!».

El Señor le contesta a Jeremías

«Si te cansa competir contra simples hombres,
    ¿cómo podrás correr contra caballos?
Si tropiezas y caes en campo abierto,
    ¿qué harás en los matorrales cerca del Jordán?
Aun tus hermanos, miembros de tu propia familia,
    se han vuelto contra ti;
    conspiran y se quejan de ti.
No confíes en ellos,
    no importa lo amables que sean sus palabras.

»Yo he abandonado a mi pueblo, mi posesión más preciada.
    He entregado a los que más amo a sus enemigos.
Mi pueblo elegido ha rugido contra mí como un león en la selva,
    por eso lo traté con desprecio.
Mi pueblo elegido se comporta como buitres moteados,[a]
    pero es el pueblo mismo el que está rodeado de buitres.
    ¡Que salgan los animales salvajes para que despedacen sus cadáveres!

10 »Muchos gobernantes han devastado mi viñedo;
    pisotearon las vides
    y así transformaron toda su belleza en un lugar desolado.
11 Lo han convertido en tierra baldía;
    escucho su triste lamento.
Toda la tierra está desolada
    y a nadie siquiera le importa.
12 Se pueden ver ejércitos destructores
    en todas las cumbres desiertas de las colinas.
La espada del Señor devora a la gente
    de un extremo al otro de la nación.
    ¡Nadie escapará!
13 Mi pueblo sembró trigo,
    pero cosecha espinos.
Se esforzó,
    pero no le sirvió de nada.
Cosechará vergüenza
    debido a la ira feroz del Señor».

Mensaje a los vecinos de Israel

14 Esto dice el Señor: «Desarraigaré de sus tierras a todas las naciones malvadas que extendieron la mano para tomar lo que le di a Israel. Desarraigaré a Judá de entre ellos, 15 pero después regresaré y tendré compasión de todos ellos. Los llevaré de regreso a su tierra, cada nación a su propia heredad. 16 Y si en verdad estas naciones aprenden los caminos de mi pueblo y si aprenden a jurar por mi nombre, y dicen: “Tan cierto como que el Señor vive” (así como ellos enseñaron a mi pueblo a jurar por el nombre de Baal), entonces se les dará un lugar entre mi pueblo; 17 pero la nación que rehúse obedecerme será arrancada de raíz y destruida. ¡Yo, el Señor, he hablado!».

Footnotes

  1. 12:9 O como hienas manchadas.

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?
You 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)
Yet 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)
How 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

“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?
Your 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)

“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)
My inheritance has become to me
    like a lion(U) in the forest.
She roars at me;
    therefore I hate her.(V)
Has 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)
10 Many shepherds(X) will ruin my vineyard
    and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
    into a desolate wasteland.(Y)
11 It 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.
12 Over 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)
13 They 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)

14 This 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. 15 But 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. 16 And 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) 17 But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy(AR) it,” declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
  2. Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of

12 Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.

If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.

I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.

Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.

10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.

12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.

13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

14 Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.

17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.