^12:14“I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning⁴⁴ the wicked nations who surround my land⁴⁵ and have attacked and plundered⁴⁶ the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession.⁴⁷ I say: ‘I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there.⁴⁸^12:15But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent⁴⁹ and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands⁵⁰ and to their own country. ^12:16But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people.⁵¹ Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal.⁵² But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.”⁵³ If they do these things,⁵⁴ then they will be included among the people I call my own.⁵⁵^12:17But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,’ ”⁵⁶ says the Lord.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

44 Heb “Thus says the Lord concerning.…” This structure has been adopted to prevent a long dangling introduction to what the Lord has to say that does not begin until the middle of the verse in Hebrew. The first person address was adopted because the speaker is still the Lord as in vv. 7–13.
45 Heb “my wicked neighbors.”
46 Heb “touched.” For the nuance of this verb here see 619 נָגַע Qal.3 and compare the usage in 1 Chr 16:22 where it is parallel to “do harm to” and Zech 2:8 where it is parallel to “plundered.”
47 Heb “the inheritance which I caused my people Israel to inherit.” Compare 3:18.
48 Heb “I will uproot the house of Judah from their midst.” There appears to be an interesting play on the Hebrew word translated “uproot” in this verse. In the first instance it refers to “uprooting the nations from upon their lands,” i.e., to exiling them. In the second instance it refers to “uprooting the Judeans from the midst of them,” i.e., to rescue them.
49 For the use of the verb “turn” (שׁוּב, shuv) in this sense, see שׁוּב Qal.6.g and compare the usage in Pss 90:13; 6:4; Joel 2:14. It does not simply mean “again” as several of the English versions render it.
50 The Lord is sovereign over the nations and has allotted each of them their lands. See Deut 2:5 (Edom), Deut 2:9 (Moab), Deut 2:19 (Ammon). He promised to restore not only his own people Israel to their land (Jer 32:37) but also Moab (Jer 48:47) and Ammon (Jer 49:6).
51 Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.
52 Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”
53 The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
54 The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.
55 Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23–25 and Zech 14:16–19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.
56 Heb “But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation, uprooting and destroying.” §35.3.2d is likely right in seeing the double infinitive construction here as an intensifying infinitive followed by an adverbial infinitive qualifying the goal of the main verb, “uproot it in such a way as to destroy it.” However, to translate that way “literally” would not be very idiomatic in contemporary English. The translation strives for the equivalent. Likewise, to translate using the conditional structure of the original seems to put the emphasis of the passage in its context on the wrong point.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all my evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to my people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. If they will diligently learn the ways of my people—to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal—they will be built up among my people. However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

NLTNew Living Translation

Now this is what the Lord says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Thus 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. And then 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. And then, if they diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘as Yahweh lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will live in the midst of my people. But if they do not listen, then I will completely uproot and destroy that nation.” declares Yahweh.

KJV 1900King James Version

Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

Public Domain