Jeremiah 12
1 You are righteous, Yahweh, whenever I bring disputes to you. I must certainly tell you of my reason to complain: Why do the ways of the wicked succeed? All the faithless people are successful.
Righteous, art thou O Yahweh, when I present my pleading unto thee, —Yet, concerning the things that are right, let me speak with thee, —Wherefore hath, the way of the lawless, prospered? [Wherefore] have all, utter traitors, been at ease?
2 You planted them and they took root. They continue to produce fruit. You are near to them in their mouths, but far away from their hearts.
Thou didst plant them, yea they took root, They have gone on yea they have borne fruit, —Near, art thou, in their mouth, But far off from their affections,
3 Yet you, Yahweh, know me. You see me and you test my heart toward you. Take them away like sheep to the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter!
But thou O Yahweh, knowest me, Wilt thou observe me and try my heart towards thee? Drag them away, as sheep for slaughter, And hallow them for the day when they are to be slain.
4 How long will the land go on drying up, and the plants in every field wither because of the wickedness of its inhabitants? The animals and the birds have been taken away. Indeed, the people say, “God will not see what happens to us.”
How long, shall the land mourn, And, the herbage of the whole field, wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, beast and bird, have perished, For say they, He will not see our latter end!
5 Yahweh said, “Indeed, if you, Jeremiah, have run with foot soldiers and they have tired you out, how can you compete against horses? If you fall down in the safe countryside, how will you do in the thickets along the Jordan?
If, with the footmen, thou hast run and they have wearied thee, How then wilt thou hotly contend with horses? Though in a safe land thou art confident, Yet how wilt thou deal with the proud banks of the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and your father's family have betrayed you and have loudly denounced you. Do not trust in them, even if they say nice things to you.
For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even they! have betrayed thee, Even they, have cried after thee with full voice, —Do not trust in them, though they speak unto thee fair words.
7 I have abandoned my house; I have forsaken my inheritance. I have given my beloved into the hands of her enemies.
I have forsaken mine own house, I have given up mine inheritance, —I have delivered the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies:
8 My inheritance has become to me like a lion in a thicket; she sets herself against me with her own voice, so I hate her.
Mine inheritance, hath become to me as a lion in a jungle, —She hath given forth against me her voice, For this cause, have I hated her.
9 Has not my prized possession become a speckled bird, that other birds of prey go against her all around? Go and gather all the wild beasts and bring them to devour her.
Is it, a variegated bird of prey, that mine inheritance is to me? The birds of prey, are round about against her! Go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have stomped all over my portion of land; they turned my delightful portion into a wilderness, a desolation.
Many shepherds, have laid waste my vineyard, They have trampled down my portion, —They have turned my coveted portion into a desert of desolation:
11 They have made her a desolation. I mourn for her; she is desolate. All the land has been made desolate, for there is no one who takes it to heart.
It hath been made a desolation, It hath mourned unto me as desolate, —All the land hath become a desolation, For, no man, layeth it to heart.
12 Destroyers have come against all the bare places in the wilderness, for Yahweh's sword is devouring from one end of the land to the other. There is no safety in the land for any living creature.
On all the bare heights in the wilderness, have come despoilers, For the sword of Yahweh hath devoured from one end of the land unto the other, —There is peace for no flesh!
13 They have sown wheat but harvest thornbushes. They are exhausted from work but have gained nothing. So be ashamed of your gain because of Yahweh's anger.”
They sowed, wheat, but thorns, have they reaped, They have put themselves to pain they shall not be profited, —Yea turn ye pale at your produce, Because of the glow of the anger of Yahweh.
14 Yahweh says this against all my neighbors, the wicked ones who strike at the possession that I made my people Israel inherit, “See, I am the one who is about to uproot them from their own ground, and I will pull up the house of Judah from among them.
Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning all my wicked neighbours, who have been touching the inheritance which I gave as an inheritance unto my people Israel, —Behold me! uprooting them from off their own soil, Whereas the house of Judah, will I uproot out of their midst.
15 Then after I uproot those nations, it will happen that I will have compassion on them and bring them back; I will return them—each man to his inheritance and his land.
And it shall come to pass after I bare uprooted them, I will again have compassion upon them, —and will bring them back—Every man—to his own inheritance and Every man—to his own land.
16 It will come about that if those nations carefully learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name 'As Yahweh lives' just as they have taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.
And it shall come to pass—If they will, diligently learn, the ways of my people—To swear by my Name saying, By the life of Yahweh, As they taught my people to swear by Baal, Then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
17 But if any do not listen, then I will uproot that nation. It will certainly be uprooted and destroyed—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
But if they will not hearken, Then will I Uproot that nation, Uproot, that I may destroy, —Declareth Yahweh.
