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?

Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee, Yet will I enter into controversy with thee. Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all the men of treachery at ease?

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; yea, they have taken root; They grow, yea, they bring forth fruit; Thou art near to their mouth, But far from their hearts.

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 Jehovah, knowest me; Thou hast seen me, and tried my heart, Whether it be devoted to thee. Tear them away, as sheep for slaughter; Separate them for the day of slaughter!

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 grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, The beasts are consumed, and the birds; For they say, “He will not see our latter 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 footmen, and they have wearied thee, Then how canst thou contend with horses? If it be so with thee in a land of peace, in which thou art secure, What wilt thou do in the glory of 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 these are treacherous toward thee, And raise a full cry after thee; Trust them not, though they speak fair words to 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 inheritance, I have given the darling 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 inheritance is become to me like a lion of the forest; She lifteth up her voice against me; Therefore do I hate her.

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.

A rapacious beast, a hyena, is my inheritance become to me; Therefore shall the rapacious beasts rush upon her on all sides. Come, gather all the beasts of the field, Bring them 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 my portion under foot; My pleasant portion have they made 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 desolation; Desolate it mourneth on account of me; The whole land is desolate, Because no man layeth my word 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.

Upon all the high places in the desert do the plunderers come; Behold, the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land to the other; No man hath peace.

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 sow wheat, but they reap thorns; They weary themselves, and are not profited; They shall be ashamed of their harvest, Because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.

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 saith Jehovah against all my evil neighbors, Who seize the inheritance which I gave my people, Israel: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, And the house of Judah will I pluck out from among 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.

Yet after I have plucked them out of their land, I will again have compassion on them, and bring them back, Every one to his own possession, And every one to his own 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 if they will indeed learn the ways of my people, And swear by my name, saying, As Jehovah liveth! As they taught my people to swear by Baal, Then shall they 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, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith Jehovah.