Yirmeyah 12
Orthodox Jewish Bible
12 Tzaddik art Thou, Hashem, when I make legal pleading of my case before Thee; yet mishpatim (justice) I would speak with Thee: Why doth the Derech Rasha’im prosper? Why live they all at ease whose dealings are that of the boged (traitor, treacherous)?
2 Thou hast planted them, and they take root; they grow, and they bring forth pri; Thou art karov (near) in their mouth, and rachok (far) from their heart.
3 But Thou, Hashem, knowest me; Thou hast seen me, and tested mine lev toward Thee; pull them out like tzon for the tevakh (slaughter), and prepare them for the Yom Haregah (Day of Slaughter, Killing).
4 Ad mosai (until when) shall HaAretz mourn, and the esev kol hasadeh (grass of every field) wither, because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The behemot are consumed, and the oph; because they said, He [G-d] is blind to our future.
5 If thou hast run with the ragelim (footmen), and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with susim? And if in the eretz shalom thou art complacent, then how wilt thou do in the thickets of the Yarden?
6 For even acheicha (thy brethren), and the bais avicha, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they are in full cry behind thee; trust them not, though they speak unto thee tovot.
7 I have forsaken Mine Bais, I have abandoned Mine nachalah; I have given the yedidut nafshi (the beloved of My soul) into the palm of her enemies.
8 Mine nachalah is unto Me as an aryeh in the ya’ar (forest); it roareth out against Me; therefore have I hated it.
9 Mine nachalah is unto Me as a speckled bird of prey, the birds of prey round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the chayyat hasadeh (beasts of the field), come to devour.
10 Ro’im rabbim (many shepherds) have destroyed My kerem (vineyard), they have trodden My chelek under foot, they have made My chelet chemdat (portion desired) a desolate midbar.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto Me; kol HaAretz is made desolate, but no ish taketh it to heart.
12 The plunderers are come upon all barren heights in the midbar; for the Cherev Hashem shall devour from the one end of the Eretz even to the other end of HaAretz; no basar shall have shalom.
13 They have sown chittim (wheat), but shall reap kotzim (thorns); they have tired themselves out, but shall not profit; and they shall be ashamed of your harvests because of the Charon Af Hashem (burning furious wrath of Hashem).
14 Thus saith Hashem: Concerning all Mine evil shchenim (neighbors), that touch the nachalah which I have caused My people Yisroel to inherit: See, I will uproot them out of their adamah, and uproot the Bais Yehudah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I uproot them I will return, and have rachamim (compassion) on them, and will bring them back again, every ish to his nachalah, and every ish to his eretz.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the darkhei Ami (ways of My people [i.e., Israel’s Biblical faith]), to swear in My Shem, As Hashem liveth; even as they taught My people to make avowal in Ba’al; then shall they be built up in the midst of My People.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly uproot and destroy that Goy (Nation), saith Hashem.
Jeremiah 12
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You will be righteous, Lord,(A)
even if I bring a case against You.
Yet, I wish to contend with You:(B)
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(C)
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
2 You planted them,(D) and they have taken root.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,[a]
but far from their conscience.[b](E)
3 As for You, Lord, You know me; You see me.(F)
You test whether my heart is with You.(G)
Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter(H)
and set them apart for the day of killing.
4 How long will the land mourn(I)
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”[c](J)
The Lord’s Response
5 If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[d] in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?(K)
6 Even your brothers—your own father’s household—
even they were treacherous to you;(L)
even they have cried out loudly after you.(M)
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.
7 I have abandoned My house;(N)
I have deserted My inheritance.
I have given the love of My life
into the hands of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has acted toward Me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against Me.
Therefore, I hate her.(O)
9 Is My inheritance like a hyena[e] to Me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;(P)
bring them to devour her.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard;
they have trampled My plot of land.(Q)
They have turned My desirable plot
into a desolate wasteland.
11 They have made it a desolation.
It mourns, desolate, before Me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.(R)
12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.(S)
13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.(T)
They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.(U)
Be put to shame by your harvests
because of the Lord’s burning anger.(V)
14 This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them(W) from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15 After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion(X) on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. 16 If they will diligently learn the ways of My people(Y)—to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—they will be built up among My people. 17 However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”(Z)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 12:2 Lit are near in their mouth
- Jeremiah 12:2 Lit kidneys
- Jeremiah 12:4 LXX reads see our ways
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or you are secure
- Jeremiah 12:9 Hb obscure
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