Jeremiah 12:1–17
12 mRighteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
nWhy does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all owho are treacherous thrive?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
pyou are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3 qBut you, O Lord, know me;
ryou see me, and test my heart toward you.
sPull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for tthe day of slaughter.
4 uHow long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
vFor the evil of those who dwell in it
wthe beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”
5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in xthe thicket of the Jordan?
6 For yeven your brothers and the house of your father,
oeven they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
zdo not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
I have abandoned amy heritage;
I have given bthe beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 aMy heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is amy heritage to me like ca hyena’s lair?
Are the cbirds of prey against her all around?
Go, dassemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
ethey have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, uit mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
fbut no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 gThey have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
hthey have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their1 harvests
ibecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all jmy evil neighbors kwho touch the heritage that lI have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, mand I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, nto swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, othen they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 pBut if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 20:1–21:14
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
20 Now jPashhur the priest, the son of kImmer, who was lchief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then jPashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him min the stocks that were in the upper nBenjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when jPashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name jPashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you oa terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, pI will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its qprized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, rPashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, sto whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, tyou have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
uyou are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
vI have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, w“Violence and destruction!”
For xthe word of the Lord has become for me
ya reproach and yderision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
zthere is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and aI am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 bFor I hear many whispering.
cTerror is on every side!
“Denounce him! dLet us denounce him!”
say all my eclose friends,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then hwe can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But ithe Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
ithey will not overcome me.
jThey will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their keternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
lwho sees the heart and the mind,1
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 mSing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 nCursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
omaking him very glad.
16 Let that man be like pthe cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
qlet him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 rbecause he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 sWhy did I come out from the womb
tto see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar
21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him uPashhur the son of Malchiah and vZephaniah the priest, the son of wMaaseiah, saying, 2 x“Inquire of the Lord for us, yfor Nebuchadnezzar1 king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to zall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: aBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. bAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you cwith outstretched hand and strong arm, din anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, eI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. fHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
8 “And to this people you shall say: g‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, hI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die iby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and jsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live kand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For lI have set my face against this city for harm and mnot for good, declares the Lord: nit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear …