Jeremiah 12
New Living Translation
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?
2 You have planted them,
and they have taken root and prospered.
Your name is on their lips,
but you are far from their hearts.
3 But as for me, Lord, you know my heart.
You see me and test my thoughts.
Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered!
Set them aside to be slaughtered!
4 How long must this land mourn?
Even the grass in the fields has withered.
The wild animals and birds have disappeared
because of the evil in the land.
For the people have said,
“The Lord doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!”
The Lord’s Reply to Jeremiah
5 “If racing against mere men makes you tired,
how will you race against horses?
If you stumble and fall on open ground,
what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?
6 Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak.
7 “I have abandoned my people, my special possession.
I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies.
8 My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest,
so I have treated them with contempt.
9 My chosen people act like speckled vultures,[a]
but they themselves are surrounded by vultures.
Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean!
10 “Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard,
trampling down the vines
and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness.
11 They have made it an empty wasteland;
I hear its mournful cry.
The whole land is desolate,
and no one even cares.
12 On all the bare hilltops,
destroying armies can be seen.
The sword of the Lord devours people
from one end of the nation to the other.
No one will escape!
13 My people have planted wheat
but are harvesting thorns.
They have worn themselves out,
but it has done them no good.
They will harvest a crop of shame
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
A Message for Israel’s Neighbors
14 Now this is what the Lord says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. 15 But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. 16 And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. 17 But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Footnotes
- 12:9 Or speckled hyenas.
Jeremiah 12
Lexham English Bible
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You 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.
2 Not 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.[a]
3 But 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.
4 How long[b] 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[c] 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,[d]
then how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6 For even your relatives, and the house of your father,
even they have dealt treacherously with you,
even they call loudly[e] after you.
You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.
7 I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance.
I have given the beloved one of my heart[f] into the hand of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest.
She has lifted up against me her voice; therefore[g] I hate her.
9 The lair of the hyena is my inheritance to me,
the birds of prey[h] are all around her.
Go, gather all of the animals[i] of the field,
bring them to come and devour.[j]
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
they have trampled down my plot of land.
They have made my pleasant field[k]
like the desert[l] of desolation.
11 They 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.
12 Upon all the barren heights in the desert[m] 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.
13 They 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[n] of Yahweh.”
14 Thus 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. 15 And then[o] 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. 16 And then,[p] if they diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘as Yahweh lives,’[q] even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will live in the midst of my people. 17 But if they do not listen, then I will completely uproot and destroy that nation.”[r] declares[s] Yahweh.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 12:2 Literally “kidneys”
- Jeremiah 12:4 Literally “Until when”
- Jeremiah 12:4 Hebrew “bird”
- Jeremiah 12:5 Literally “a land of peace”
- Jeremiah 12:6 Literally “full”
- Jeremiah 12:7 Literally “soul”
- Jeremiah 12:8 Literally “unto thus”
- Jeremiah 12:9 Hebrew “bird of prey”
- Jeremiah 12:9 Hebrew “animal”
- Jeremiah 12:9 Literally “to food”
- Jeremiah 12:10 Literally “the plot of land of my desire”
- Jeremiah 12:10 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 12:12 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 12:13 Literally “the blaze of the nose”
- Jeremiah 12:15 Literally “And it will happen”
- Jeremiah 12:16 Literally “And it will happen”
- Jeremiah 12:16 Literally “the life of Yahweh”
- Jeremiah 12:17 Literally “I will drive out the nation that driving out and destroying”
- Jeremiah 12:17 Literally “declaration of”
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