Jeremiah 12
1 Lord, when I complain to you, you always show yourself to be in the right. Even so I still want to present my case to you. Why is it that wicked people do so well? Why do those who are unfaithful to you live so comfortably?
Righteous [art] Thou, O Jehovah, When I plead towards thee, Only, judgments do I speak with Thee, Wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper? At rest have been all treacherous dealers.
2 You planted them, and they've taken root, grown, and produced fruit. They're always talking about you but they don't think of you, even for a moment.
Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, They go on, yea, they have made fruit, Near [art] Thou in their mouth, And far off from their reins.
3 But you know me, Lord, you see me, and examine what I think about you. Drag off these people like sheep to be slaughtered; keep them apart for the time when they're killed.
And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known me, Thou seest me, and hast tried my heart with Thee, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter.
4 How long will the land have to mourn and the grass in every field be dried up because of the evil of the people who live there? The animals and birds have died out because the people have said, “He doesn't know what's going to happen to us.”
Till when doth the earth mourn, And the herb of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of those dwelling in it, Consumed have been beast and fowl, Because they said, 'He doth not see our latter end.'
5 The Lord says, Once you've become worn out in a foot race against men, how would you win racing against horses? If you trip up in open ground, how would you do in the tangled undergrowth beside the Jordan?
For — with footmen thou hast run, And they weary thee, And how dost thou fret thyself with horses! Even in the land of peace, [In which] thou art confident — And how dost thou in the rising of Jordan!
6 Even your own brothers and your father's family have betrayed you; they have publicly criticized you. Don't trust them when they talk nicely to you!
For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even they dealt treacherously against thee, Even they — they called after thee fully, Trust not in them, when they speak to thee good things.
7 I have given up on my people; I have abandoned the nation I chose. I have handed over the ones I truly love to their enemies.
I have forsaken My house, I have left Mine inheritance, I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.
8 They've turned into a wild lion, roaring at me—that's why I hate them.
Mine inheritance hath been to Me as a lion in a forest, She gave forth against Me with her voice, Therefore I have hated her.
9 My people are like a spotted bird of prey to me with other birds of prey circling to attack it. Go and bring all the wild animals to eat up the carcass.
A speckled fowl [is] Mine inheritance to Me? Is the fowl round about against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, Come ye for food.
10 Many shepherds have come and destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down the crops in my field. They have turned my pleasant land into an empty wasteland.
Many shepherds did destroy My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness — a desolation.
11 They have made it into a desert; it mourns before me, lying desolate. The whole country is a wasteland, but no one cares.
He hath made it become a desolation, The desolation hath mourned unto Me, Desolated hath been all the land, But there is no one laying it to heart.
12 The destructive armies have crossed all the bare desert hills for the Lord's sword destroys from one end of the country to the other. No one has any peace.
On all high places in the plain have spoilers come in, For the sword of Jehovah is consuming, From the end of the land even unto the end of the land, There is no peace to any flesh.
13 My people sowed wheat but harvested thorns. They wore themselves out but gained no benefit. You should be ashamed of such a poor harvest, caused by the Lord's furious anger.
They sowed wheat, and have thorns reaped, They have become sick — they profit not, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah.
14 This is what the Lord says: When it comes these evil nearby nations who attack the country that I gave to my people Israel, I'm going to uproot them from their land. I'm also going to uproot the people of Judah from among them.
Thus said Jehovah concerning all my evil neighbours, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused my people — Israel — to inherit: 'Lo, I am plucking them from off their ground, And the house of Judah I pluck out of their midst.
15 However, once I have uprooted them, I will have mercy on them again, and bring each one back to their property and their land.
And it hath been, after My plucking them out, I turn back, and have pitied them, And I have brought them back, Each to his inheritance, and each to his land.
16 If they will honestly learn the ways of my people and respect me, making their vows to me, just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will do well among my people.
And it hath come to pass, If they learn well the ways of My people, To swear by My name, 'Jehovah liveth,' As they taught My people to swear by Baal, Then they have been built up in the midst of My people.
17 But if they refuse to obey, then I will not only uproot that nation but I will completely destroy it, declares the Lord.
And if they do not hearken, Then I have plucked up that nation, Plucking up and destroying, An affirmation of Jehovah!'
