Jeremiah 12

Chapter 12

Jeremiah’s Prayer

^1aRighteous 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?

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 ²mind.

³But 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!

⁴How 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.”

God’s Answer

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 ^1aroared 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 field;

They have made My ^dpleasant field

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 ^clays it to heart.

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

Destroyers have come,

For a ^bsword of the Lord is devouring

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

There is ^cno peace for ³anyone.

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

They have ^bstrained themselves ¹to no profit.

But be ashamed of your ^2charvest

Because of the ^dfierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord concerning all My ^awicked neighbors who ^bstrike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “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 ^aagain have compassion on them; and I will ^bbring them back, 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 the Lord 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 destroy it,” declares the Lord.