Jer 12 | ESV | STEP | Righteous are you , O Lord , when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper ? Why do all who are treacherous thrive ?

1 ^aRighteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
^bWhy does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all ^cwho are treacherous thrive?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
^dyou are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3 ^eBut you, O Lord, know me;
^fyou see me, and test my heart toward you.
^gPull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for ^hthe day of slaughter.
4 ⁱHow long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
^jFor the evil of those who dwell in it
^kthe beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in ^lthe thicket of the Jordan?
6 For ^meven your brothers and the house of your father,
ⁿeven they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
^odo not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
7 “I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned ^pmy heritage;
I have given ^qthe beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 ^rMy heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is ^smy heritage to me like ^ta hyena’s lair?
Are the ^ubirds of prey against her all around?
Go, ^vassemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
^wthey have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, ^xit mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
^ybut no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 ^zThey have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
^aathey have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their ^{▼▼Hebrew your} harvests
^acbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14 Thus says the Lord concerning all ^admy evil neighbors ^aewho touch the heritage that ^afI 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. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^agand I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^ahto swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^aithen they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 ^ajBut if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”