Jeremiah 12:6-11
The Message
5-6 “So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with men,
what makes you think you can race against horses?
And if you can’t keep your wits during times of calm,
what’s going to happen when troubles break loose
like the Jordan in flood?
Those closest to you, your own brothers and cousins,
are working against you.
They’re out to get you. They’ll stop at nothing.
Don’t trust them, especially when they’re smiling.
* * *
7-11 “I will abandon the House of Israel,
walk away from my beloved people.
I will turn over those I most love
to those who are her enemies.
She’s been, this one I held dear,
like a snarling lion in the jungle,
Growling and baring her teeth at me—
and I can’t take it anymore.
Has this one I hold dear become a preening peacock?
But isn’t she under attack by vultures?
Then invite all the hungry animals at large,
invite them in for a free meal!
Foreign, scavenging shepherds
will loot and trample my fields,
Turn my beautiful, well-cared-for fields
into vacant lots of tin cans and thistles.
They leave them littered with junk—
a ruined land, a land in lament.
The whole countryside is a wasteland,
and no one will really care.
* * *
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Jeremiah 12:6-11
New International Version
6 Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.(A)
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.(B)
7 “I will forsake(C) my house,
abandon(D) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love(E)
into the hands of her enemies.(F)
8 My inheritance has become to me
like a lion(G) in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.(H)
9 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.(I)
10 Many shepherds(J) will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.(K)
11 It will be made a wasteland,(L)
parched and desolate before me;(M)
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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