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If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the [a]pride of the Jordan? For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee: believe them not, though they speak [b]fair words unto thee.

I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest: she hath uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her. Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour. 10 Many shepherds 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 a desolation; it mourneth unto me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. 12 Destroyers are come upon all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace. 13 They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and [c]ye shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:5 Or, swelling
  2. Jeremiah 12:6 Hebrew good things.
  3. Jeremiah 12:13 Or, be ye ashamed. Or, they shall be ashamed

The Lord’s Reply

“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,[a]
    then how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
For even your relatives, and the house of your father,
    even they have dealt treacherously with you,
even they call loudly[b] after you.
    You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.
I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance.
    I have given the beloved one of my heart[c] into the hand of her enemies.
My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest.
    She has lifted up against me her voice; therefore[d] I hate her.
The lair of the hyena is my inheritance to me,
    the birds of prey[e] are all around her.
Go, gather all of the animals[f] of the field,
    bring them to come and devour.[g]
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
    they have trampled down my plot of land.
They have made my pleasant field[h]
    like the desert[i] 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[j] 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[k] of Yahweh.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:5 Literally “a land of peace”
  2. Jeremiah 12:6 Literally “full”
  3. Jeremiah 12:7 Literally “soul”
  4. Jeremiah 12:8 Literally “unto thus”
  5. Jeremiah 12:9 Hebrew “bird of prey”
  6. Jeremiah 12:9 Hebrew “animal”
  7. Jeremiah 12:9 Literally “to food”
  8. Jeremiah 12:10 Literally “the plot of land of my desire”
  9. Jeremiah 12:10 Or “wilderness”
  10. Jeremiah 12:12 Or “wilderness”
  11. Jeremiah 12:13 Literally “the blaze of the nose”