Jeremiah 12

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.