Jeremiah 12–13

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12You will be in the right, O Yahweh, when I complain to you.

Even so, let me speak my claims with you.

Why does the way of the wicked succeed?

All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease.

²Not only do you plant them, they take root.

They grow, but also they produce fruit.

You are near in their mouths,

but far from their inmost beings.^a

³But you, O Yahweh, you know me,

you see me, and you test that my heart is with you.

Tear them apart like sheep for the slaughtering,

and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

⁴How long^b will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up,

because of the wickedness of those who live in it?

The animals and the birds^c are swept away,

because they have said, “He does not see our future.”

The Lord’s Reply

⁵“If you run with foot soldiers and they have made you weary,

then how will you compete with horses?

If you have fallen in a peaceful land,^d

then how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

⁶For even your relatives, and the house of your father,

even they have dealt treacherously with you,

even they call loudly^e after you.

You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.

⁷I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance.

I have given the beloved one of my heart^f into the hand of her enemies.

⁸My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest.

She has lifted up against me her voice; therefore^g I hate her.

⁹The lair of the hyena is my inheritance to me,

the birds of prey^h are all around her.

Go, gather all of the animalsⁱ of the field,

bring them to come and devour.^j

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,

they have trampled down my plot of land.

They have made my pleasant field^k

like the desert^l of desolation.

¹¹They have made it a desolation.

Desolate, it mourns to me.

All the land is made desolate,

but there is no person taking it to heart.

¹²Upon all the barren heights in the desert^m destroyers have come,

for the sword of Yahweh devours,

from one end of the land to the other end of the land,

there is no peace for all flesh.

¹³They have sown wheat and they have reaped thorns.

They are exhausted, they do not profit.

And they will be ashamed of your produce,

because of the burning angerⁿ of Yahweh.”

¹⁴Thus says Yahweh concerning all of the evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I gave as an inheritance to my people Israel: “Look, I am about to drive them out from their land, and the house of Judah I will drive out from among them. ¹⁵And then^o after my driving them out, I will once again have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance, and each one to his land. ¹⁶And then,^p if they diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘as Yahweh lives,’^q even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will live in the midst of my people. ¹⁷But if they do not listen, then I will completely uproot and destroy that nation.”^r declares^s Yahweh.

The Linen Loincloth

13Thus Yahweh said to me: “Go and buy for yourself a loincloth of linen and put it on your loins, but you must not place^a it in water.” ²So I bought the loincloth according to the word of Yahweh and I put it^b on my loins.

³Now the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying,^{c 4}“Take the loincloth that you bought, that is on your loins, and stand up, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates just as Yahweh had commanded me.

⁶And then,^d after a long time,^e then Yahweh said to me, “Stand up, go to the Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and I dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the loincloth was ruined; it was not good for anything.

⁸And then^f the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{g 9}“Thus says Yahweh: ‘So I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to listen to my words, who go^h in the stubbornness of their hearts,ⁱ and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, let them be like this loincloth which is not good for anything. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to the loins of a person, so I caused to cling to me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah,’ declares^j Yahweh, ‘to be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.’

¹²“Therefore, you shall say to them this word, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: “Every jar must be filled with wine.” ’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?’ ¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness. ¹⁴And I will smash them, each one against his brother, and the fathers and the sons together,” declares^k Yahweh. “I will not have compassion, and I will not take pity, and I will not show compassion from destroying them.” ’ ”

¹⁵Listen, and pay attention,

you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken.

¹⁶Give glory to Yahweh your God before^l he brings darkness,

and before^m your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight.

And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom,

he makes itⁿ as thick darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not listen to it,

my inner self^o will weep in secret places,

because of the presence of^p your pride.

And my eyes^q will weep bitterly,

and they will melt in tears,

because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.

A Message for the King and the Queen Mother

¹⁸“Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘Take a lower seat,^r

for your beautiful crown^s has come down from your head.’^t

¹⁹The towns of the Negev are shut up,

and there is no one who opens them.^u

All of Judah is deported;

it is deported in completeness.

²⁰Lift up your eyes

and see those coming from the north.

Where is the flock that was given to you,

your magnificent flock?^v

²¹What will you say when he sets over you—

and you have taught them—allies as head over you?

Will not labor pains take hold of you,

like a woman giving birth?

²²And if you say in your heart,

‘Why have these things happened to me?’

Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered;

your heels have endured violence.

²³Can a Cushite change his skin,

or a leopard his spots?

Then you also will be able to do good,

who are accustomed to doing evil.

²⁴And I will scatter them

like stubble scattered by the wind of the desert.^w

²⁵This is your lot,

the portion of your measure from me,” declares^x Yahweh,

“because you have forgotten me,

and you have trusted in the lie.

²⁶So in turn I will bare your skirts over your face,

and your shame will become visible.

²⁷Your adulteries, and your neighings,

the shameful behavior of your fornications

on the hills in the countryside,

I have seen your abominations.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you continue to be unclean?^y”