< Jeremiah 12 >
1 You [are] righteous, O YHWH, When I plead toward You, Only, let me speak judgments with You, Why did the way of the wicked prosper? All treacherous dealers have been at rest.
2 You have planted them, Indeed, they have taken root, They go on, indeed, they have made fruit, You [are] near in their mouth, And far off from their reins.
3 And You, O YHWH, You have known me, You see me, and have tried my heart with You, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter.
4 Until when does the earth mourn, And the herb of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of those dwelling in it, Beast and bird have been consumed, Because they said, “He does not see our latter end.”
5 “For you have run with footmen, And they weary you, And how you fret yourself with horses! Even in the land of peace, [In which] you are confident—And how will you do in the rising of Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and the house of your father, Even they dealt treacherously against you, Even they called after you fully, Do not trust in them when they speak good things to you.
7 I have forsaken My house, I have left My inheritance, I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has been to Me as a lion in a forest, She gave forth against Me with her voice, Therefore I have hated her.
9 [Is] My inheritance a speckled bird to Me? Is the bird around against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, Come for food.
10 Many shepherds destroyed My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness—a desolation.
11 He has made it become a desolation, The desolation has mourned to Me, All the land has been desolated, But there is no one laying it to heart.
12 Spoilers have come in on all high places in the plain, For the sword of YHWH is consuming, From the end of the land even to the end of the land, There is no peace to any flesh.
13 They sowed wheat, and have reaped thorns, They have become sick—they do not profit, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of YHWH.”
14 Thus said YHWH: “Concerning all My evil neighbors, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused My people—Israel—to inherit: Behold, I am plucking them from off their ground, And I pluck the house of Judah out of their midst.
15 And it has 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 And it has come to pass, If they learn the ways of My people well, To swear by My Name, YHWH lives, As they taught My people to swear by Ba‘al, Then they have been built up in the midst of My people.
17 And if they do not listen, Then I have plucked up that nation, Plucking up and destroying,” A declaration of YHWH!
