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Jeremiah’s Complaint

You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?

1

Jeremiah’s Question

Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?

2

You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.

2

You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
You are near in their mouth
But far from their [a]mind.

3

Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!

3

But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me,
And You have tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
And prepare them for the day of slaughter.

4

How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”

4

How long will the land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
The beasts and birds are consumed,
For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”

5

God’s Answer

“If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumblea in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets byb the Jordan?

5

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

“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 the [b]floodplain of the Jordan?

6

Your relatives, members of your own family —
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.

6

For even your brothers, the house of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you;
Yes, they have called [c]a multitude after you.
Do not believe them,
Even though they speak [d]smooth words to you.

7

“I will forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love
into the hands of her enemies.

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.

8

My inheritance has become to me
like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.

8

My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;
It cries out against Me;
Therefore I have hated it.

9

Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.

9

My [e]heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;
The vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!

10

Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.

10

“Many rulers[f] have destroyed My vineyard,
They have trodden My portion underfoot;
They have made My [g]pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

11

It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.

11

They have made it desolate;
Desolate, it mourns to Me;
The whole land is made desolate,
Because no one takes it to heart.

12

Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the Lord will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.

12

The 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.

13

They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”

13

They have sown wheat but reaped thorns;
They have [h]put themselves to pain but do not profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14

This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them.

14

Thus says the Lord: “Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit — behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

15

But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country.

15

Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land.

16

And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ — even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal — then they will be established among my people.

16

And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people.

17

But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

17

But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the Lord.

Parallel

New International Version

New King James Version

Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah 12