Jeremiah 12

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.