Jeremiah 12–13

Jeremiah’s Question

12Righteous ^aare You, O Lord, when I plead with You;

Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.

^bWhy does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?

²You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;

They grow, yes, they bear fruit.

^cYou are near in their mouth

But far from their ¹mind.

³But You, O Lord, ^dknow me;

You have seen me,

And You have ^etested my heart toward You.

Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,

And prepare them for ^fthe day of slaughter.

⁴How long will ^gthe land mourn,

And the herbs of every field wither?

^hThe beasts and birds are consumed,

ⁱFor the wickedness of those who dwell there,

Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁵“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,

Then how can you contend with horses?

And if in the land of peace,

In which you trusted, they wearied you,

Then how will you do in ^jthe ²floodplain of the Jordan?

⁶For even ^kyour brothers, the house of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you;

Yes, they have called ³a multitude after you.

^lDo not believe them,

Even though they speak ⁴smooth words to you.

⁷“I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;

I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.

⁸My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;

It cries out against Me;

Therefore I have ^mhated it.

⁹My ⁵heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;

The vultures all around are against her.

Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,

ⁿBring them to devour!

¹⁰“Many ^orulers ⁶have destroyed ^pMy vineyard,

They have ^qtrodden My portion underfoot;

They have made My ⁷pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

¹¹They have made it ^rdesolate;

Desolate, it mourns to Me;

The whole land is made desolate,

Because ^sno one takes it to heart.

¹²The plunderers have come

On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,

For the sword of the Lord shall devour

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

No flesh shall have peace.

^13tThey have sown wheat but reaped thorns;

They have ⁸put themselves to pain but do not profit.

But be ashamed of your harvest

Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord: “Against all My evil neighbors who ^utouch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit—behold, I will ^vpluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. ^15wThen it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them ^xand bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. ¹⁶And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, ^yto swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be ^zestablished in the midst of My people. ¹⁷But if they do not ^aobey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the Lord.

Symbol of the Linen Sash

13Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it ¹around your waist, but do not put it in water.” ²So I got a ²sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.

³And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, ⁴“Take the ³sash that you acquired, which is ⁴around your waist, and arise, go to the ⁵Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

⁶Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the ⁶sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹“Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner ^aI will ruin the pride of Judah and the great ^bpride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who ^crefuse to hear My words, who ^dfollow ⁷the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. ¹¹For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^ethey may become My people, ^ffor renown, for praise, and for ^gglory; but they would ^hnot hear.’

Symbol of the Wine Bottles

¹²“Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Every bottle shall be filled with wine.” ’

“And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’

¹³“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—ⁱwith drunkenness! ¹⁴And ^jI will dash them ⁸one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.” ’ ”

Pride Precedes Captivity

¹⁵Hear and give ear:

Do not be proud,

For the Lord has spoken.

^16kGive glory to the Lord your God

Before He causes ^ldarkness,

And before your feet stumble

On the dark mountains,

And while you are ^mlooking for light,

He turns it into ⁿthe shadow of death

And makes it dense darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not hear it,

My soul will ^oweep in secret for your pride;

My eyes will weep bitterly

And run down with tears,

Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to ^pthe king and to the queen mother,

“Humble yourselves;

Sit down,

For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”

¹⁹The cities of the South shall be shut up,

And no one shall open them;

Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it;

It shall be wholly carried away captive.

²⁰Lift up your eyes and see

Those who come from the ^qnorth.

Where is the flock that was given to you,

Your beautiful sheep?

²¹What will you say when He punishes you?

For you have taught them

To be chieftains, to be head over you.

Will not ^rpangs seize you,

Like a woman in ⁹labor?

²²And if you say in your heart,

^s“Why have these things come upon me?”

For the greatness of your iniquity

^tYour skirts have been uncovered,

Your heels ¹made bare.

²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?

Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴“Therefore I will ^uscatter them ^vlike stubble

That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

^25wThis is your lot,

The portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in ^xfalsehood.

²⁶Therefore ^yI will uncover your skirts over your face,

That your shame may appear.

²⁷I have seen your adulteries

And your lustful ^zneighings,

The lewdness of your harlotry,

Your abominations ^aon the hills in the fields.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

Will you still not be made clean?”