Jeremiah 12:5-13

New International Reader's Version

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁵The Lord says, “Suppose you have raced against people.
    And suppose they have worn you out.
    Then how would you be able to race against horses?
Suppose you feel safe only in open country.
    Then how would you get along in the bushes near the Jordan River?
⁶Even your relatives have turned against you.
    They are members of your own family.
    They have shouted loudly at you.
They might say nice things about you.
    But do not trust them.

⁷“I will turn my back on my people.
    I will desert my land.
I love the people of Judah.
    In spite of that, I will hand them over to their enemies.
⁸My land has become to me
    like a lion in the forest.
It roars at me.
    So I hate it.
⁹My own land has become like a spotted hawk.
    And other hawks surround it and attack it.
Come, all you wild animals!
    Gather together!
    Come together to eat up my land.
¹⁰Many shepherds will destroy my vineyard.
    They will walk all over it.
They will turn my pleasant vineyard
    into a dry and empty land.
¹¹My vineyard will become a desert.
    It will be dry and empty in my sight.
The whole land will be completely destroyed.
    And no one even cares.
¹²Many will come to destroy it.
    They will gather on the bare hilltops in the desert.
I will use them as my sword to destroy my people.
    They will kill them from one end of the land to the other.
    No one will be safe.
¹³People will plant wheat. But all they will gather is thorns.
    They will wear themselves out. But they will not have anything to show for it.
I am very angry with them.
    So they will be ashamed of the crop they gather.”