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25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you?

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25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’(A) Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust?(B) Is it not your ways that are unjust?

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17 “Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right.

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17 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.

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13 “You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord.

“But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said against you?’

14 “You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins? 15 From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’”

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Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God

13 “You have spoken arrogantly(A) against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask,(B) ‘What have we said against you?’

14 “You have said, ‘It is futile(C) to serve(D) God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements(E) and going about like mourners(F) before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant(G) blessed. Certainly evildoers(H) prosper,(I) and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

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17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

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Breaking Covenant Through Injustice

17 You have wearied(A) the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.(B)

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased(C) with them” or “Where is the God of justice?(D)

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But the Lord is still there in the city,
    and he does no wrong.
Day by day he hands down justice,
    and he does not fail.
    But the wicked know no shame.

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The Lord within her is righteous;(A)
    he does no wrong.(B)
Morning by morning(C) he dispenses his justice,
    and every new day he does not fail,(D)
    yet the unrighteous know no shame.(E)

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20 O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right.’ But I judge each of you according to your deeds.”

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20 Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”(A)

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Jeremiah Questions the Lord’s Justice

12 Lord, you always give me justice
    when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
    Why are evil people so happy?

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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?

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25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

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29 And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.

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29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

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For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

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Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.(A)

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20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

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20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(A) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(B) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9

20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

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20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law;(A) rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.(B)

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“But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)

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But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly,(A) what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)(B)

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