Jeremia 12
1 Herr, Du bist's, der immer Recht behält, sooft ich mit Dir hadre; ich möchte dennoch Dich zur Rede stellen: Weswegen glückt der Weg der Frevler und leben ruhig alle treulos Handelnden?
Yahweh, whenever I tell you that I am unhappy [about what is happening to me], you [always] act justly/fairly. So now allow me to ask about one more thing [that I do not understand]: Why are wicked people [often] very prosperous? Why do things go very well for dishonest/wicked people?
2 Du pflanzest sie; schon wurzeln sie. Sie schlagen aus; schon tragen sie auch Frucht. Geläufig bist Du ihrem Mund, doch ihrem Herzen fremd.
You allow them to prosper like [MET] trees that grow tall and bear [a lot of] fruit. They [always] say [MTY] good things about you, but their hearts are [really] far from you.
3 Du aber kennst mich, Herr, durchschaust mich, hast erprobt, wie sich mein Herz zu Dir verhält. So schlepp sie fort wie Schafe, fort zum Schlachten! Dem Würgetage weihe sie!
But Yahweh, as for me, you know what is in my inner being. You see what I [do] and you are able to know what I am thinking. So drag away those [wicked] people, like [people drag away] sheep that they are going to butcher. Set them aside like sheep that are about to be slaughtered!
4 Wie lange soll das Land noch trauern, des Feldes ganzes Gras verdorren? Das Vieh mitsamt den Vögeln schwindet, der Bosheit derer wegen, die drin siedeln. Sie sagen ja: "Von unsrer Zukunft weiß er nichts."
This land is [RHQ] becoming very dry and even the grass is withering. The wild animals and the birds have [all] died because the people are [very] wicked. [All that has happened] because the people have said, “Yahweh does not know what we are doing (OR, what will happen to us)!”
5 "Wirst du im Wettlauf mit den Fußgängern schon müde, wie wolltest du mit Rennpferden Wettrennen? Bist du im sichern Land schon ängstlich, was tust du erst im Jordandickicht?
[Then to show me that I needed to be prepared to endure even greater difficulties, Yahweh said to me], [“It is as though] you have become exhausted from racing against men; so how will you be able to race against horses? If you [stumble and] fall when you are running on open/bare/smooth ground, what will happen to you when you are running through the thornbushes near the Jordan [River]?
6 Denn deine Brüder, deines Vaters Haus, auch sie sind treulos gegen dich gesinnt. Auch diese rufen hinter deinem Rücken: 'Voll das Maß!' Trau ihnen nicht, auch wenn sie freundlich mit dir reden!
[Already] your brothers and [other members of] your own family oppose you. They (plot against/plan to do evil things to) you and they say bad things about you. So even if they say nice things about you, do not trust them!
7 Ich will von meinem Hause nichts mehr wissen; mein Eigen geb ich preis und überliefere mein Liebstes in die Hand der Feinde.
I have abandoned my [Israeli] people, the people whom I chose to belong to me. I have allowed their enemies to conquer the Israeli people, whom I love.
8 Was mein, benahm sich gegen mich wie in dem Wald ein Löwe; es brüllte wider mich. Daher mag ich es nimmer leiden.
My people have become to me like [SIM] a lion in the forest. [It is as though] they roar at me like a lion, so now I hate them.
9 Sieht denn mein Eigentum wie ein entstellter Vogel aus, um den die andern Vögel fliegen? Herzu! Zuhauf des Feldes Tiere! Herbei zum Fraße!
My chosen people have [RHQ] become like speckled hawks that are surrounded by vultures [waiting to eat their flesh after they are dead]. Tell all the wild animals to come and eat [the flesh of their corpses].
10 Zahlreiche Hirten machen meinen Weinberg wüst, zertreten meinen Grund und Boden; in wüste Öde wandeln sie mein Eigentum.
Many rulers [from other countries have come with their armies and] devastated/destroyed my people [whom I care for like a farmer takes care of his] vineyard. They have caused my beautiful land to become a barren desert where no one lives.
11 Zur Wüste machen sie's, verwüstet trauert es vor mir. Verwüstet ist das ganze Land, weil niemand sich's zu Herzen nimmt. -
They have caused it to become completely empty; [it is as though] I hear the land crying sadly/mournfully. The whole land is desolate, and no one (worries about/pays any attention to) it.
12 Auf allen Höhen in der Wüste treten die Verwüster auf. Der Herr hat ja ein Schwert, das von des Landes einem Ende bis zum andern würgt. Kein Mensch bleibt heil. -
The soldiers [of our enemies] have marched across all the barren hilltops. But [I], Yahweh, am using those armies [MTY] to punish your land from one end to the other, and no one will escape.
13 Sie säen Weizen, ernten aber Dornen; und ohne Nutzen quälen sie sich ab. - Seid über eure Ernte recht enttäuscht! Aufdampft der Zorn des Herrn."
[It is as though] my people planted wheat, but now they are harvesting thorns. They have become very tired [because of much hard work], but they have gained nothing [from all that work]. They will be very disappointed because their harvests [will be very small], [and that will happen] because [I], Yahweh, am extremely angry [with them].”
14 So spricht der Herr: "All meine schlimmen Nachbarn, die an das Eigentum angrenzen, das ich zu eigen meinem Volke Israel gegeben, entwurzle ich aus ihrem Land. Nicht länger lasse ich das Judahaus in ihrer Mitte weilen.
This is [also] what Yahweh said to me: “[I will punish] the evil nearby nations that have been trying to take away the land that I gave to my Israeli people, and I will force them to leave their own land. But I will throw the people of Judah out of their land, also.
15 Danach, wenn ich sie weggerissen, erbarme ich mich ihrer wiederum und leite jeden abermals in sein Besitztum und jeden in sein Land zurück.
But later I will act mercifully toward those nations again, and I will bring them back to their own lands again. Each [clan] will come back to its own land.
16 Gewöhnen sie sich an die Weise meines Volks, daß sie bei meinem Namen schwören 'Bei dem Herrn', so wie sie einst mein Volk daran gewöhnt, beim Baal zu schwören, dann werden Sie inmitten meines Volkes ein Stätte haben.
And if the people [of the other nations whose armies have invaded Israel] learn the [religious] customs of my people, and if they learn that I [am listening] when they solemnly promise that they will do something good, like they taught my people to believe that [their god] Baal [was listening] when they made solemn promises, I will cause them to become prosperous, and they also will be my people.
17 Doch wollen sie nicht hören, dann will ich solch ein Heidenvolk ausreißen und vertilgen." Ein Spruch des Herrn.
But I will expel any nation whose people refuse to obey me, and I will destroy that nation and its people. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
