Jeremiah 12:5-13
New Living Translation
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.”
Footnotes
- 12:9 Or speckled hyenas.
Jeremiah 12:5-13
English Standard Version
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in (A)the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For (B)even your brothers and the house of your father,
(C)even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
(D)do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
7 “I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned (E)my heritage;
I have given (F)the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 (G)My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is (H)my heritage to me like (I)a hyena's lair?
Are the (J)birds of prey against her all around?
Go, (K)assemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
(L)they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, (M)it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
(N)but no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 (O)They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
(P)they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their[a] harvests
(Q)because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 12:13 Hebrew your
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
