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Yahweh Answers Jeremiah

“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,
Then how can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the [a](A)thicket of the Jordan?
For even your (B)brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have called aloud after you.
Do not believe them, although they may say (C)nice things to you.”

“I have (D)forsaken My house;
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have given the (E)beloved of My soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has (F)given forth its voice against Me;
Therefore I have come to (G)hate her.
Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the (H)birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the (I)beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 Many (J)shepherds have ruined My (K)vineyard;
They have (L)trampled down My portion;
They have made My (M)desired portion
A desolate wilderness.
11 [b]It has been made a desolation;
Desolate, it (N)mourns [c]before Me;
The (O)whole land has been made desolate
Because no man (P)sets it upon his heart.
12 On all the [d](Q)bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For a (R)sword of Yahweh is devouring
From one end of the land even to the [e]other;
There is (S)no peace for any flesh.
13 They have (T)sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
They have (U)strained themselves [f]to no profit.
But be ashamed of your (V)produce
Because of the (W)burning anger of Yahweh.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:5 Lit pride
  2. Jeremiah 12:11 Lit One has made it
  3. Jeremiah 12:11 Or upon
  4. Jeremiah 12:12 Or caravan trails
  5. Jeremiah 12:12 Lit other end of the land
  6. Jeremiah 12:13 Lit they do not profit

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”