Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah’s Complaint

¹You will be righteous, Lord, ^a

even if I bring a case against you.

Yet, I wish to contend with you: ^b

Why does the way of the wicked prosper? ^c

Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

²You planted them, ^d and they have taken root.

They have grown and produced fruit.

You are ever on their lips, ^e

but far from their conscience. ^f,^g

³As for you, Lord, you know me; you see me. ^h

You test whether my heart is with you. ⁱ

Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter ^j

and set them apart for the day of killing.

⁴How long will the land mourn ^k

and the grass of every field wither?

Because of the evil of its residents,

animals and birds have been swept away, ^l

for the people have said,

“He cannot see what our end will be.” ^m,ⁿ

The Lord’s Response

⁵If you have raced with runners

and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble ^o in a peaceful land,

what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? ^p

⁶Even your brothers #— #your own father’s family —

even they were treacherous to you; ^q

even they have cried out loudly after you. ^r

Do not have confidence in them,

though they speak well of you.

⁷I have abandoned my house; ^s

I have deserted my inheritance.

I have handed the love of my life

over to her enemies.

⁸My inheritance has behaved toward me

like a lion in the forest.

She has roared against me.

Therefore, I hate her. ^t

⁹Is my inheritance like a hyena ^u to me?

Are birds of prey circling her?

Go, gather all the wild animals; ^v

bring them to devour her.

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;

they have trampled my plot of land. ^w

They have turned my desirable plot

into a desolate wasteland.

¹¹They have made it a desolation.

It mourns, desolate, before me.

All the land is desolate,

but no one takes it to heart. ^x

¹²Over all the barren heights in the wilderness

the destroyers have come,

for the Lord has a sword that devours

from one end of the earth to the other.

No one has peace. ^y

¹³They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. ^z

They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. ^aa

Be put to shame by your harvests

because of the Lord’s burning anger. ^ab

¹⁴This 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 ^ac from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. ¹⁵After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion ^ad on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. ¹⁶If they will diligently learn the ways of my people ^ae #— #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. ¹⁷However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.” ^af

This is the Lord’s declaration.