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Jeremiah 12:5-13
New Living Translation
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
New International Version
Jeremiah 12:5-13
New International Version
God’s Answer
5 “If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[a] in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets(A) by[b] the Jordan?
6 Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.(B)
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.(C)
7 “I will forsake(D) my house,
abandon(E) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love(F)
into the hands of her enemies.(G)
8 My inheritance has become to me
like a lion(H) in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.(I)
9 Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.(J)
10 Many shepherds(K) will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.(L)
11 It will be made a wasteland,(M)
parched and desolate before me;(N)
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12 Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword(O) of the Lord(P) will devour(Q)
from one end of the land to the other;(R)
no one will be safe.(S)
13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.(T)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”(U)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of
New Living Translation (NLT)
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.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.