Jeremiah 12–13

CHAPTER 12

Jeremiah’s Plea

^1aRighteous are You, O Yahweh, when I would plead my case with You;

Indeed I would ^bspeak matters of justice with You:

Why has the ^cway of the wicked succeeded?

Why are all those who ^ddeal in treachery complacent?

²You have ^aplanted them; they have also taken root;

They grow; they have even produced fruit.

You are ^bnear ¹to their lips

But far from their ²inmost being.

³But You, O Yahweh, You ^aknow me;

You see me;

And You ^btest my heart’s attitude toward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter

And ¹set them apart for a ^cday of carnage!

⁴How long is the ^aland to mourn

And the ^bplants of every field to dry up?

Because of the ^cevil of those who inhabit it,

^dAnimals and birds have been swept away,

Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ^eending.”

Yahweh Answers Jeremiah

⁵“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the ^1athicket of the Jordan?

⁶“For even your ^abrothers and the household of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you,

Even they have called aloud after you.

Do not believe them, although they may say ^bnice things to you.”

⁷“I have ^aforsaken My house;

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have given the ^bbeloved of My soul

Into the hand of her enemies.

⁸“My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has ^agiven forth its voice against Me;

Therefore I have come to ^bhate her.

⁹“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the ^abirds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the ^bbeasts of the field,

Bring them to devour!

¹⁰“Many ^ashepherds have ruined My ^bvineyard;

They have ^ctrampled down My portion;

They have made My ^ddesired portion

A desolate wilderness.

¹¹“¹It has been made a desolation;

Desolate, it ^amourns ²before Me;

The ^bwhole land has been made desolate

Because no man ^csets it upon his heart.

¹²“On all the ^1abare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For a ^bsword of Yahweh is devouring

From one end of the land even to the ²other;

There is ^cno peace for any flesh.

¹³“They have ^asown wheat and have reaped thorns;

They have ^bstrained themselves ¹to no profit.

But be ashamed of your ^cproduce

Because of the ^dburning anger of Yahweh.”

¹⁴Thus says Yahweh concerning all My ^aevil neighbors who ^bbeat at the inheritance with which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, “Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will ^cuproot the house of Judah from among them.

¹⁵“And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will ^areturn and have compassion on them; and I will ^bcause them to return, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.

¹⁶“Then if they will really ^alearn the ways of My people, to ^bswear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ even as they taught My people to ^cswear by Baal, they will be ^dbuilt up in the midst of My people.

¹⁷“But if they will not listen, then I will ^auproot that nation, uproot and make it perish,” declares Yahweh.

CHAPTER 13

The Ruined Belt

¹Thus Yahweh said to me, “Go and ^abuy yourself a linen belt and put it around your loins, but do not put it in water.”

²So I bought the belt in accordance with the ^aword of Yahweh and put it around my loins.

³Then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying,

⁴“Take the belt that you have bought, which is around your loins, and arise, go to ¹the ^aEuphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”

⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, ^aas Yahweh had commanded me.

⁶Now it happened that after many days Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the belt which I commanded you to hide there.”

⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined; it was totally worthless.

⁸Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

⁹“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Just so will I ruin the ^apride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

¹⁰‘This evil people, who ^arefuse to listen to My words, who ^bwalk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have walked after other gods to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this belt which is totally worthless.

¹¹‘For as the belt clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah ^acling to Me,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for a ^bname, for ^cpraise, and for beauty; but they ^ddid not listen.’

The Magnitude of Israel’s Iniquity

¹²“Therefore you are to say this word to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.” ’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’

¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with ^adrunkenness!

¹⁴“I will ^ashatter them against each other, both the ^bfathers and the sons together,” declares Yahweh. “I will ^cnot spare nor show pity nor have compassion so as not to ruin them.” ’ ”

¹⁵Listen and give ear, do not be ^ahaughty,

For Yahweh has spoken.

^16aGive glory to Yahweh your God,

Before He brings ^bdarkness

And before your ^cfeet ¹stumble

On the dusky mountains;

And while you are hoping for light,

He makes it into the ^dshadow of death

And turns it into dense gloom.

¹⁷But ^aif you will not listen to it,

My soul will ^bcry in secret for such pride;

And my eyes will bitterly weep

And flow down with tears

Because the ^cflock of Yahweh has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the ^aking and the queen mother,

“^bTake a lowly seat,

For your beautiful ^ccrown

Has come down from your head.”

¹⁹The ^acities of the Negev have been closed up,

And there is no one to open them;

All ^bJudah has been taken away into exile,

Wholly taken away into exile.

²⁰“Lift up your eyes and see

Those coming ^afrom the north.

Where is the ^bflock that was given you,

Your beautiful sheep?

²¹“What will you say when He appoints over you—

And you yourself had taught them—

Former ^1acompanions to be head over you?

Will not ^bpangs seize you

Like a woman in childbirth?

²²“If you ^asay in your heart,

‘^bWhy have these things happened to me?’

Because of the ^cmagnitude of your iniquity

^dYour skirts have been uncovered

And your heels have suffered violence.

²³“^aCan the Ethiopian change his skin

Or the leopard his spots?

Then you also can ^bdo good

Who are accustomed to doing evil.

²⁴“Therefore I will ^ascatter them like chaff passing away

Into the wilderness ^bwind.

²⁵“This is your ^alot, the portion measured to you

From Me,” declares Yahweh,

“Because you have ^bforgotten Me

And trusted in lies.

²⁶“So I Myself have also ^astripped your skirts off over your face,

That your disgrace may be seen.

²⁷“As for your ^aadulteries and your lustful neighings,

The ^blewdness of your prostitution

On the ^chills in the field,

I have seen your detestable things.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

^dHow long will you not cleanse yourself?”