Jer 12 | LSB | STEP | Righteous are You, O Yahweh, when I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would speak matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked succeeded? Why are all those who deal in treachery complacent?

‏ Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah’s Plea

1 Righteous are You, O Yahweh, when I would plead my case with You;
Indeed I would speak matters of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked succeeded?
Why are all those who deal in treachery complacent?
2 You have planted them; they have also taken root;
They grow; they have even produced fruit.
You are near ^{▼▼Lit in their mouth}to their lips
But far from their ^{▼▼Lit kidneys}inmost being.
3 But You, O Yahweh, You know me;
You see me;
And You test my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter
And ^{▼▼Lit sanctify them}set them apart for a day of carnage!
4 How long is the land to mourn
And the plants of every field to dry up?
Because of the evil of those who inhabit it,
Animals and birds have been swept away,
Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

Yahweh Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,
Then how can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the ^{▼▼Lit pride}thicket of the Jordan?
6 “For even your brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have called aloud after you.
Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”
7 “I have forsaken My house;
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have given the beloved of My soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
8 “My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has given forth its voice against Me;
Therefore I have come to hate her.
9 “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 “Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard;
They have trampled down My portion;
They have made My desired portion
A desolate wilderness.
11 “ ^{▼▼Lit One has made it}It has been made a desolation;
Desolate, it mourns ^{▼▼Or upon}before Me;
The whole land has been made desolate
Because no man sets it upon his heart.
12 “On all the ^{▼▼Or caravan trails}bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For a sword of Yahweh is devouring
From one end of the land even to the ^{▼▼Lit other end of the land}other;
There is no peace for any flesh.
13 “They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
They have strained themselves ^{▼▼Lit they do not profit}to no profit.
But be ashamed of your produce
Because of the burning anger of Yahweh.”
14 Thus says Yahweh concerning all My evil neighbors who beat at the inheritance with which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, “Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15 And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will cause them to return, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16 Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and make it perish,” declares Yahweh.