Ἱερεμίας 12
1 δίκαιος εἶ κύριε ὅτι ἀπολογήσομαι πρὸς σέ πλὴν κρίματα λαλήσω πρὸς σέ τί ὅτι ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν εὐοδοῦται εὐθήνησαν πάντες οἱ ἀθετοῦντες ἀθετήματα
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 ἐφύτευσας αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐρριζώθησαν ἐτεκνοποίησαν καὶ ἐποίησαν καρπόν ἐγγὺς εἶ σὺ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ πόρρω ἀπὸ τῶν νεφρῶν αὐτῶν
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 καὶ σύ κύριε γινώσκεις με δεδοκίμακας τὴν καρδίαν μου ἐναντίον σου ἅγνισον αὐτοὺς εἰς ἡμέραν σφαγῆς αὐτῶν
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 ἕως πότε πενθήσει ἡ γῆ καὶ πᾶς ὁ χόρτος τοῦ ἀγροῦ ξηρανθήσεται ἀπὸ κακίας τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν αὐτῇ ἠφανίσθησαν κτήνη καὶ πετεινά ὅτι εἶπαν οὐκ ὄψεται ὁ θεὸς ὁδοὺς ἡμῶν
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 σοῦ οἱ πόδες τρέχουσιν καὶ ἐκλύουσίν σε πῶς παρασκευάσῃ ἐφ’ ἵπποις καὶ ἐν γῇ εἰρήνης σὺ πέποιθας πῶς ποιήσεις ἐν φρυάγματι τοῦ Ιορδάνου
[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 ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ οὗτοι ἠθέτησάν σε καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐβόησαν ἐκ τῶν ὀπίσω σου ἐπισυνήχθησαν μὴ πιστεύσῃς ἐν αὐτοῖς ὅτι λαλήσουσιν πρὸς σὲ καλά
[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 ἐγκαταλέλοιπα τὸν οἶκόν μου ἀφῆκα τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἔδωκα τὴν ἠγαπημένην ψυχήν μου εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθρῶν αὐτῆς
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 ἐγενήθη ἡ κληρονομία μου ἐμοὶ ὡς λέων ἐν δρυμῷ ἔδωκεν ἐπ’ ἐμὲ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῆς διὰ τοῦτο ἐμίσησα αὐτήν
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 μὴ σπήλαιον ὑαίνης ἡ κληρονομία μου ἐμοὶ ἢ σπήλαιον κύκλῳ αὐτῆς βαδίσατε συναγάγετε πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ ἐλθέτωσαν τοῦ φαγεῖν αὐτήν
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 ποιμένες πολλοὶ διέφθειραν τὸν ἀμπελῶνά μου ἐμόλυναν τὴν μερίδα μου ἔδωκαν μερίδα ἐπιθυμητήν μου εἰς ἔρημον ἄβατον
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 ἐτέθη εἰς ἀφανισμὸν ἀπωλείας δῑ ἐμὲ ἀφανισμῷ ἠφανίσθη πᾶσα ἡ γῆ ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνὴρ τιθέμενος ἐν καρδίᾳ
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 ἐπὶ πᾶσαν διεκβολὴν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἦλθον ταλαιπωροῦντες ὅτι μάχαιρα τοῦ κυρίου καταφάγεται ἀπ’ ἄκρου τῆς γῆς ἕως ἄκρου τῆς γῆς οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη πάσῃ σαρκί
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 σπείρατε πυροὺς καὶ ἀκάνθας θερίσατε οἱ κλῆροι αὐτῶν οὐκ ὠφελήσουσιν αὐτούς αἰσχύνθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν ἀπὸ ὀνειδισμοῦ ἔναντι κυρίου
[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 ὅτι τάδε λέγει κύριος περὶ πάντων τῶν γειτόνων τῶν πονηρῶν τῶν ἁπτομένων τῆς κληρονομίας μου ἧς ἐμέρισα τῷ λαῷ μου Ισραηλ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποσπῶ αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν Ιουδαν ἐκβαλῶ ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν
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 καὶ ἔσται μετὰ τὸ ἐκβαλεῖν με αὐτοὺς ἐπιστρέψω καὶ ἐλεήσω αὐτοὺς καὶ κατοικιῶ αὐτοὺς ἕκαστον εἰς τὴν κληρονομίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστον εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν μαθόντες μάθωσιν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ ὀμνύειν τῷ ὀνόματί μου ζῇ κύριος καθὼς ἐδίδαξαν τὸν λαόν μου ὀμνύειν τῇ Βααλ καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσονται ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ λαοῦ μου
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 ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἐξαρῶ τὸ ἔθνος ἐκεῖνο ἐξάρσει καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ
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.”
