Jeremías 12

1 Justo eres Tú, oh Yavé, para que yo contienda contigo. Sin embargo, defenderé mi causa ante Ti: ¿Por qué prospera el camino de los perversos, y los traidores viven en paz?

Certainly, O Lord, you are just. But if I may contend with you, while still speaking what is just to you: Why does the way of the impious prosper? Why is it well with all those who transgress and act unfairly?

2 Los plantas y echan raíces. Crecen y dan fruto. Cercano estás de sus bocas, pero lejos de su pensamiento.

You planted them, and they took root. They are prospering and bearing fruit. You are near to their mouths, but far from their hearts.

3 Pero Tú, oh Yavé, Tú me conoces. Me miras y pruebas mi corazón, cómo es hacia Ti. Sepáralos como a ovejas para el matadero. Apártalos para el día de la matanza.

And you, O Lord, have known me well. You have seen me, and you have tested my heart with you. Gather them together like a flock for the sacrifice and sanctify them for the day of slaughter.

4 ¿Hasta cuándo lamenta la tierra y se marchita la hierba de todo el campo? Por la perversidad de los que la habitan perecieron los animales y las aves. Porque dicen: Él no verá nuestro último fin.

How long shall the earth mourn? And how long shall the plants of every field whither because of the wickedness of the inhabitants within them? It has consumed the wild animals and the birds. For they said: “He will not see our very end.”

5 [Respuesta de] Yavé: Si te cansaste al correr con la infantería, ¿cómo puedes competir con la caballería? Si caes en una tierra de paz, entonces ¿qué harás en la selva del Jordán?

“If you have struggled to run on foot, how will you be able to compete with horses? And if you have been secure in a land of peace, what will you do about the arrogance of the Jordan?

6 Porque aun tus hermanos y la casa de tu padre te traicionaron. Aun ellos gritan con voz fuerte detrás de ti. No les creas aunque te digan cosas agradables.

For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even these have fought against you. And they have cried out after you with loud voice: ‘You should not believe them, when they speak good things to you.’”

7 Abandoné mi casa. Desamparé mi heredad. Entregué en manos de mis enemigos lo que mi alma ama.

“I have abandoned my house. I have disowned my inheritance. I have given my beloved soul into the hand of its enemies.

8 Porque mi heredad fue para mí como león en la selva. Dio su rugido contra mí. Por tanto la aborrecí.

My inheritance has become for me like a lion in the forest. It has uttered a voice against me, therefore, I have hated it.

9 ¿Mi heredad es para mí como un ave de rapiña de muchos colores? ¿No hay aves de rapiña contra ella y alrededor de ella? Vengan, reúnanse todas las fieras del campo. Vengan a tragarla.

Is my inheritance to me like a discolored bird? Is it like a bird that has entirely changed color? Approach and assemble, all beasts of the earth! Hurry, so that you may devour!

10 Muchos pastores destruyeron mi viña. Pisotearon mi heredad. Convirtieron mi agradable heredad en un desierto desolado.

Many pastors have demolished my vineyard. They have trampled my portion. They have made my desirable portion into a desert of solitude.

11 La convirtieron en una desolación, y llora sobre mí desolada. Toda la tierra está desolada porque no reflexiona algún hombre.

They have squandered it, and it has grieved concerning me. The entire earth has become utterly desolate, because there is no one who understands with the heart.”

12 Llegaron los destructores sobre todas las alturas del desierto, porque la espada de Yavé devora, desde un extremo de la tierra hasta el otro. Para nadie hay paz.

The devastators have arrived, over all the ways of the wilderness. For the sword of the Lord will devour, from one end of the earth even to its furthest limits. There is no peace for all that is flesh.

13 Sembraron trigo y cosecharon espinas. Tuvieron la posesión, pero nada les aprovechó. Son avergonzados en sus cosechas a causa del ardor de la ira de Yavé.

They sowed wheat, but they reaped thorns. They received an inheritance, but it will not benefit them. You will be confounded by your own fruits, because of the wrath of the fury of the Lord.

14 Con respecto a todos mis perversos vecinos que atacan la heredad con la cual doté a mi pueblo Israel, Yavé dice: Ciertamente los arrancaré de su tierra. Arrancaré a la Casa de Judá de en medio de ellos.

Thus says the Lord against all my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance that I have distributed to my people Israel: “Behold, I will root them out of their own land, and I will root the house of Judah out of their midst.

15 Pero después que los arranque, volveré a tener compasión de ellos. Los devolveré cada uno a su heredad y cada cual a su tierra.

And when I have rooted them out, I will turn back and take pity on them. And I will lead them back, one man to his inheritance, and another man to his land.

16 Sucederá que si en verdad quieren aprender los caminos de mi pueblo para invocar mi Nombre y decir: Vive Yavé, así como enseñaron a mi pueblo a jurar por baal, ellos serán establecidos en medio de mi pueblo.

And this shall be: if they are taught and they learn the ways of my people, so that they swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they had taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.

17 Pero si no escuchan, arrancaré a esa nación. La sacaré de raíz y la destruiré, dice Yavé.

But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation unto utter destruction and perdition, says the Lord.”