Jeremiah 12 Contemporary English Version
Jeremiah Complains to the Lord
12 Whenever I complain
to you, Lord,
you are always fair.
But now I have questions
about your justice.
Why is life easy for sinners?
Why are they successful?
2 You plant them like trees;
you let them prosper
and produce fruit.
Yet even when they praise you,
they don't mean it.
3 But you know, Lord,
how faithful I've always been,
even in my thoughts.
So drag my enemies away
and butcher them like sheep!
4 How long will the ground be dry
and the pasturelands parched?
The birds and animals
are dead and gone.
And all of this happened because
the people are so sinful.
They even brag, “God can't see
the sins we commit.”[a]
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5 Jeremiah, if you get tired
in a race against people,
how can you possibly run
against horses?
If you fall in open fields,
what will happen in the forest
along the Jordan River?
6 Even your own family
has turned against you.
They act friendly,
but don't trust them.
They're out to get you,
and so is everyone else.
The Lord Is Furious with His People
7 I loved my people and chose them
as my very own.
But now I will reject them
and hand them over
to their enemies.
8 My people have turned against me
and roar at me like lions.
That's why I hate them.
9 My people are like a hawk
surrounded and attacked
by other hawks.[b]
Tell the wild animals
to come and eat their fill.
10 My beautiful land is ruined
like a field or a vineyard
trampled by shepherds
and stripped bare
by their flocks.
11 Every field I see lies barren,
and no one cares.
12 A destroying army
marches along desert roads
and attacks everywhere.
They are my deadly sword;
no one is safe from them.
13 My people, you planted wheat,
but because I was furious,
I let only weeds grow.
You wore yourselves out
and gained only shame!
The Lord Will Have Pity on Other Nations
14 The Lord said:
I gave this land to my people Israel, but enemies around it have attacked and robbed it. So I will uproot them from their own countries just as I will uproot Judah from its land. 15 But later, I will have pity on these nations and bring them back to their own lands. 16 They once taught my people to worship Baal. But if they admit I am the only true God, and if they let my people teach them how to worship me, these nations will also become my people. 17 However, if they don't listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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