Jeremiah 12

Tree of Life Version

12 Righteous are You, Adonai,
    when I plead my case with You.
    Yet I speak with You about justice.
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all the treacherous thrive?
² You planted them, so they have taken root.
    They are growing, bearing fruit.
    You are near in their mouth,
        yet far from their mind.
³ But You have known me, Adonai.
    You see me, and examine my heart toward You.
    Drag them off like sheep for slaughter.
    Set them apart for the day of carnage.^[a]
4 How long will the land mourn
    and the grass of all the field wither?
    Because those living in it are evil,
        beasts and birds are swept away.
    For they said, “He cannot see our end.”

¹⁰ “Many shepherds ruined My vineyard.
    They trampled My property.
    They made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
¹¹ They made it a wasteland.
    It mourns before Me, desolate.
        The whole land will be laid waste,
    because no one takes it to heart.”
¹² On all the bare hills in the wilderness
    destroyers have come.
    For the sword of Adonai is devouring
        from the one end of the land to the other end of the land.
    No flesh has shalom.
¹³ They sowed wheat but reaped thorns.
    They wore themselves out, gaining nothing.
    So be ashamed of your harvest,
        because of Adonai’s fierce anger.