Jeremiah 12:1–13:27

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,d Lord,

when I bring a casee before you.

Yet I would speak with you about your justice:f

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?g

Why do all the faithless live at ease?

2 You have plantedh them, and they have taken root;

they grow and bear fruit.i

You are always on their lips

but far from their hearts.j

3 Yet you know me, Lord;

you see me and testk my thoughts about you.

Drag them off like sheepl to be butchered!

Set them apart for the day of slaughter!m

4 How long will the land lie parchedn

and the grass in every field be withered?o

Because those who live in it are wicked,

the animals and birds have perished.p

Moreover, the people are saying,

“He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

5 “If you have raced with men on foot

and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumblea in safe country,

how will you manage in the thicketsq byb the Jordan?

6 Your relatives, members of your own family—

even they have betrayed you;

they have raised a loud cry against you.r

Do not trust them,

though they speak well of you.s

7 “I will forsaket my house,

abandonu my inheritance;

I will give the one I lovev

into the hands of her enemies.w

8 My inheritance has become to me

like a lionx in the forest.

She roars at me;

therefore I hate her.y

9 Has not my inheritance become to me

like a speckled bird of prey

that other birds of prey surround and attack?

Go and gather all the wild beasts;

bring them to devour.z

10 Many shepherdsa will ruin my vineyard

and trample down my field;

they will turn my pleasant field

into a desolate wasteland.b

11 It will be made a wasteland,c

parched and desolate before me;d

the whole land will be laid waste

because there is no one who cares.

12 Over all the barren heights in the desert

destroyers will swarm,

for the sworde of the Lordf will devourg

from one end of the land to the other;h

no one will be safe.i

13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns;

they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.j

They will bear the shame of their harvest

because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”k

14 This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritancel I gave my people Israel, I will uprootm them from their lands and I will uprootn the people of Judah from among them. 15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassiono and will bringp each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16 And if they learnq well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’r—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baals—then they will be established among my people.t 17 But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroyu it,” declares the Lord.

A Linen Belt

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:v 4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Peratha w and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.x

6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pridey of Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people, who refuse to listenz to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their heartsa and go after other godsb to serve and worship them,c will be like this belt—completely useless!d 11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renowne and praise and honor.f But they have not listened.’g

Wineskins

12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13 then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkennessh all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. 14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pityi or mercy or compassionj to keep me from destroyingk them.’ ”

Threat of Captivity

15 Hear and pay attention,

do not be arrogant,

for the Lord has spoken.l

16 Give glorym to the Lord your God

before he brings the darkness,

before your feet stumblen

on the darkening hills.

You hope for light,

but he will turn it to utter darkness

and change it to deep gloom.o

17 If you do not listen,p

I will weep in secret

because of your pride;

my eyes will weep bitterly,

overflowing with tears,q

because the Lord’s flockr will be taken captive.s

18 Say to the kingt and to the queen mother,u

“Come down from your thrones,

for your glorious crownsv

will fall from your heads.”

19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up,

and there will be no one to open them.

All Judahw will be carried into exile,

carried completely away.

20 Look up and see

those who are coming from the north.x

Where is the flocky that was entrusted to you,

the sheep of which you boasted?

21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you

those you cultivated as your special allies?z

Will not pain grip you

like that of a woman in labor?a

22 And if you ask yourself,

“Why has this happened to me?”b—

it is because of your many sinsc

that your skirts have been torn offd

and your body mistreated.e

23 Can an Ethiopianb change his skin

or a leopard its spots?

Neither can you do good

who are accustomed to doing evil.f

24 “I will scatter you like chaffg

driven by the desert wind.h

25 This is your lot,

the portioni I have decreed for you,”

declares the Lord,

“because you have forgottenj me

and trusted in false gods.k

26 I will pull up your skirts over your face

that your shame may be seenl—

27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,

your shameless prostitution!m

I have seen your detestable acts

on the hills and in the fields.n

Woe to you, Jerusalem!

How long will you be unclean?”o