Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah’s Prayer

11Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would 2discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the 3way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who 4deal in treachery at ease?2You have 5planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are 6near 7to their lips But far from their 8mind.3But You 9know me, O Lord; You see me; And You 10examine my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter And 11set them apart for a 12day of carnage!4How long is the 13land to mourn And the 14vegetation of the countryside to wither? For the 15wickedness of those who dwell in it, 16Animals and birds have been snatched away, Because men have said, “He will not see our latter 17ending.”

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 1819thicket of the Jordan?6For even your 20brothers and the household of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you, Even they have cried aloud after you. Do not believe them, although they may say 21nice things to you.”

God’s Answer

7“I have 22forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the 23beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.8My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has 2425roared against Me; Therefore I have come to 26hate her.9Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me? Are the 27birds of prey against her on every side? Go, gather all the 28beasts of the field, Bring them to devour!10Many 29shepherds have ruined My 30vineyard, They have 31trampled down My field; They have made My 32pleasant field A desolate wilderness.1133It has been made a desolation, Desolate, it 34mourns 35before Me; The 36whole land has been made desolate, Because no man 37lays it to heart.12On all the 3839bare heights in the wilderness Destroyers have come, For a 40sword of the Lord is devouring From one end of the land even to the 41other; There is 42no peace for 43anyone.13They have 44sown wheat and have reaped thorns, They have 45strained themselves 46to no profit. But be ashamed of your 4748harvest Because of the 49fierce anger of the Lord.”

14Thus says the Lord concerning all My 50wicked neighbors who 51strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will 52uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will 53again have compassion on them; and I will 54bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16Then if they will really 55learn the ways of My people, to 56swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught My people to 57swear by Baal, they will be 58built up in the midst of My people. 17But if they will not listen, then I will 59uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.