Jeremiah 12:7-17

7I have decided to turn away from my nation. I will leave the people that I chose to belong to me. I will put the people that I love under the power of their enemies.

8The people that belong to me have turned against me. They are like a lion that hides in the forest. It roars and is ready to attack me. Because of that, I have turned against my people.

9They attack me like hyenas, but vultures are ready to attack them. Tell all the wild animals to come, so that they can eat their dead bodies!

10Many foreign leaders will come. They will destroy the land where my people live. It was a beautiful garden where I planted my people. But enemies will make it become like a desert.

11They will make it a dry and empty place, where nobody lives and nothing grows. The whole land will be like a desert. There will be nobody to take care of it.

12Soldiers will march over the hills in the wilderness. They will come to destroy the whole land. I, the Lord, will use them as my weapon. I will punish everyone. Nobody will be safe.

13My people will plant seeds of wheat, but they will only have weeds at harvest time. They will work very hard, but they will get nothing. At harvest time, they will have no crops to be proud of. Because I am very angry, they will not have any food.’

14This is what the Lord says: ‘I will punish the wicked nations that came to attack the land of my people. It was the land that I gave to Israel's people to be their home. But those enemies destroyed it. So I will remove them from their own lands. I will rescue the people of Judah from among them.

15But after I have removed those nations, I will return to help them. I will be kind to them. I will bring them back to the countries where they belong. Each nation will return to live in its own land.

16But they must learn to live in the way that my people live. At one time they taught my people to use Baal's name when they made promises. But now they must give honour to me as the true God. When they make a promise, they must say, “I promise to do this, as surely as the Lord lives.” If they do these things, they will belong among my people.

17But if any nation refuses to obey me, I will destroy it completely.’ That is what the Lord says.