Jeremiah 12

¹Righteous 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 ?

²You plant them, and they take root ; they grow and produce fruit ; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart .

³But you, O Lord, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter , and set them apart for the day of slaughter .

⁴How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither ? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away , because they said , He will not see our latter end .

⁵If 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 the thicket of the Jordan ?

⁶For even your brothers and the house of your father , even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.

⁷I have forsaken my house ; I have abandoned my heritage ; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies .

⁸My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest ; she has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her.

⁹Is my heritage to me like a hyena’s lair ? Are the birds of prey against her all around ? Go , assemble all the wild beasts ; bring them to devour .

¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard ; they have trampled down my portion ; they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness .

¹¹They have made it a desolation ; desolate , it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate , but no man lays it to heart .

¹²Upon 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 .

¹³They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns ; they have tired themselves out but profit nothing . They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

¹⁴Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I 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.

¹⁵And after I have plucked them up , I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land .

¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people , to swear by my name , As the Lord lives , even as they taught my people to swear by Baal , then they shall be built up in the midst of my people .

¹⁷But if any nation will not listen , then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.