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
Lexham English Bible
The Lord’s Reply
5 “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?
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 12:5 Literally “a land of peace”
- Jeremiah 12:6 Literally “full”
- Jeremiah 12:7 Literally “soul”
- Jeremiah 12:8 Literally “unto thus”
- Jeremiah 12:9 Hebrew “bird of prey”
- Jeremiah 12:9 Hebrew “animal”
- Jeremiah 12:9 Literally “to food”
- Jeremiah 12:10 Literally “the plot of land of my desire”
- Jeremiah 12:10 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 12:12 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 12:13 Literally “the blaze of the nose”
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.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software