Jeremiah 12  Complete Jewish Bible

12 Adonai, although you would be in the right
if I were to dispute with you,
nevertheless I want to discuss
some points of justice with you:
Why do the wicked prosper?
Why do the treacherous all thrive?
² You planted them, and they took root;
they grow, and they bear fruit.
You are near in their mouths,
though far from their hearts.
³ But, Adonai, you know me and see me;
you test my devotion to you;
drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered,
and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
⁴ How long must the land mourn
and the grass in all the fields wither?
The wild animals and birds are consumed
because of the wickedness of those who live there;
for they say, “He will not see how we end up.”
⁵ If racing men on foot exhausts you,
how will you compete against horses?
You may feel secure in a land at peace,
but how will you do in the Yarden’s thick brush?
⁶ For even your own brothers
and your father’s family are betraying you;
they are in full cry after you.
Despite all their nice speech, don’t believe them.

⁷ “I have abandoned my house,
I have rejected my heritage,
I have given my heart’s beloved
over to the hands of her foes.
⁸ For me, my heritage has become
like a lion in the forest —
she roared out against me;
so now I hate her.
⁹ For me, my heritage is like a speckled bird of prey —
other birds of prey surround her and attack her.
Go, gather all the wild animals,
and bring them to devour her.
¹⁰ Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
they have trampled my plot of land,
they have turned my desirable property
into a desert waste.
¹¹ Yes, they have made it a waste;
wasted, it mourns to me;
the whole land is wasted,
because nobody really cares.”

¹² On all the desert’s bare hills
plunderers have come;
yes, the sword of Adonai devours the land
from one end to the other;
nothing alive is safe.
¹³ They sowed wheat and reaped thorns,
they wore themselves out and gained nothing.
So be ashamed of your [tiny] harvest,
the result of Adonai’s fierce anger.