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God Replies to Jeremiah

If you have raced with runners and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if you trust in a safe land,
    how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?(A)
For even your kinsfolk and your own family,
    even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
    though they speak friendly words to you.(B)

I have forsaken my house;
    I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my heart
    into the hands of her enemies.(C)
My heritage has become to me
    like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me—
    therefore I hate her.(D)
Is the hawk hungry for my heritage?
    Are the vultures all around her?
Go, assemble all the wild animals;
    bring them to devour her.(E)
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
    a desolate wilderness.(F)
11 They have made it a desolation;
    desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
    but no one lays it to heart.(G)
12 Upon all the bare heights[a] in the desert,
    spoilers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
    no one shall be safe.(H)
13 They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
    they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their[b] harvests
    because of the fierce anger of the Lord.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 12.12 Or the trails
  2. 12.13 Heb your

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”