Jeremiah 12

1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?

[Too] righteous art thou, O Lord, that I could plead with thee; yet must I speak of [the principles of] justice with thee: Wherefore is the way of the wicked happy? do all those prosper that deal treacherously?

2 You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.

Thou hast planted them; they have also taken root; they grow; they also bring forth fruit: thou art near, in their mouth, and far from their mind.

3 But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.

But thou, O Lord, knowest me; thou seest me, and probest my heart toward thee; set them apart like sheep for the slaughter, and destine them for the day of slaying.

4 How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”

How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of all the field wither? Because of the wickedness of those that dwell therein are wholly removed the beasts and the birds; because they said, He will not see our last end.

5 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, how then canst thou contend with the horses? and if in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee, ] how then wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?

6 Even your brothers— your own father’s household— even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.

For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, even they have called forth a crowd of men after thee: believe them not, though they speak kindly unto thee.

7 I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies.

I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given up the most dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

8 My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her.

My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest; it sent forth its voice against me: therefore do I hate it.

9 Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.

Is my heritage become unto me as a bird of prey stained with blood? so that the birds of prey are all around it? Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them hither to devour.

10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden under foot my field, they have rendered my pleasant field a desolate wilderness.

11 They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart.

They have made it a desert, and being desolate it mourneth before me: the whole land is made desolate, because no man laid it to heart.

12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.

Over all the mountain-peaks in the wilderness did the destroyers come; for the sword of the Lord devoureth from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: there is no peace to any flesh.

13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

They have sown wheat, but they reap thorns; they have put themselves to pain [but] have no profit; be therefore ashamed of your products, because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

14 This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

Thus hath said the Lord against all my bad neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit, Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and the house of Judah will I pluck out from the midst of them.

15 But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

And it shall come to pass, that, after I have plucked them out, and I will again have mercy on them, and will restore them, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

16 And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.

And it shall come to pass, if they will truly learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As the Lord liveth; as they had taught my people to swear by Ba'al: that they shall then be built up in the midst of my people.

17 But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”

But if they will not hearken, then will I pluck out that nation, plucking out and exterminating [them], saith the Lord.