Jeremiah’s Prayer

1 aRighteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You;

Indeed I would bdiscuss matters of justice with You:

Why has the cway of the wicked prospered?

Why are all those who ddeal in treachery at ease?

2 You 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 2mind.

3 But You aknow me, O Lord;

You see me;

And You bexamine my heart’s attitude toward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter

And 1set them apart for a cday of carnage!

4 How long is the aland to mourn

And the bvegetation of the countryside to wither?

For the cwickedness of those who dwell in it,

dAnimals and birds have been snatched away,

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

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 cried aloud after you.

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