Yirmeyah 12
Orthodox Jewish Bible
12 Tzaddik art Thou, Hashem, when I make legal pleading of my case before Thee; yet mishpatim (justice) I would speak with Thee: Why doth the Derech Rasha’im prosper? Why live they all at ease whose dealings are that of the boged (traitor, treacherous)?
2 Thou hast planted them, and they take root; they grow, and they bring forth pri; Thou art karov (near) in their mouth, and rachok (far) from their heart.
3 But Thou, Hashem, knowest me; Thou hast seen me, and tested mine lev toward Thee; pull them out like tzon for the tevakh (slaughter), and prepare them for the Yom Haregah (Day of Slaughter, Killing).
4 Ad mosai (until when) shall HaAretz mourn, and the esev kol hasadeh (grass of every field) wither, because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The behemot are consumed, and the oph; because they said, He [G-d] is blind to our future.
5 If thou hast run with the ragelim (footmen), and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with susim? And if in the eretz shalom thou art complacent, then how wilt thou do in the thickets of the Yarden?
6 For even acheicha (thy brethren), and the bais avicha, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they are in full cry behind thee; trust them not, though they speak unto thee tovot.
7 I have forsaken Mine Bais, I have abandoned Mine nachalah; I have given the yedidut nafshi (the beloved of My soul) into the palm of her enemies.
8 Mine nachalah is unto Me as an aryeh in the ya’ar (forest); it roareth out against Me; therefore have I hated it.
9 Mine nachalah is unto Me as a speckled bird of prey, the birds of prey round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the chayyat hasadeh (beasts of the field), come to devour.
10 Ro’im rabbim (many shepherds) have destroyed My kerem (vineyard), they have trodden My chelek under foot, they have made My chelet chemdat (portion desired) a desolate midbar.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto Me; kol HaAretz is made desolate, but no ish taketh it to heart.
12 The plunderers are come upon all barren heights in the midbar; for the Cherev Hashem shall devour from the one end of the Eretz even to the other end of HaAretz; no basar shall have shalom.
13 They have sown chittim (wheat), but shall reap kotzim (thorns); they have tired themselves out, but shall not profit; and they shall be ashamed of your harvests because of the Charon Af Hashem (burning furious wrath of Hashem).
14 Thus saith Hashem: Concerning all Mine evil shchenim (neighbors), that touch the nachalah which I have caused My people Yisroel to inherit: See, I will uproot them out of their adamah, and uproot the Bais Yehudah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I uproot them I will return, and have rachamim (compassion) on them, and will bring them back again, every ish to his nachalah, and every ish to his eretz.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the darkhei Ami (ways of My people [i.e., Israel’s Biblical faith]), to swear in My Shem, As Hashem liveth; even as they taught My people to make avowal in Ba’al; then shall they be built up in the midst of My People.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly uproot and destroy that Goy (Nation), saith Hashem.
Jeremiah 12
The Message
What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?
12 1-4 You are right, O God, and you set things right.
I can’t argue with that. But I do have some questions:
Why do bad people have it so good?
Why do con artists make it big?
You planted them and they put down roots.
They flourished and produced fruit.
They talk as if they’re old friends with you,
but they couldn’t care less about you.
Meanwhile, you know me inside and out.
You don’t let me get by with a thing!
Make them pay for the way they live,
pay with their lives, like sheep marked for slaughter.
How long do we have to put up with this—
the country depressed, the farms in ruin—
And all because of wickedness, these wicked lives?
Even animals and birds are dying off
Because they’ll have nothing to do with God
and think God has nothing to do with them.
* * *
5-6 “So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with men,
what makes you think you can race against horses?
And if you can’t keep your wits during times of calm,
what’s going to happen when troubles break loose
like the Jordan in flood?
Those closest to you, your own brothers and cousins,
are working against you.
They’re out to get you. They’ll stop at nothing.
Don’t trust them, especially when they’re smiling.
* * *
7-11 “I will abandon the House of Israel,
walk away from my beloved people.
I will turn over those I most love
to those who are her enemies.
She’s been, this one I held dear,
like a snarling lion in the jungle,
Growling and baring her teeth at me—
and I can’t take it anymore.
Has this one I hold dear become a preening peacock?
But isn’t she under attack by vultures?
Then invite all the hungry animals at large,
invite them in for a free meal!
Foreign, scavenging shepherds
will loot and trample my fields,
Turn my beautiful, well-cared-for fields
into vacant lots of tin cans and thistles.
They leave them littered with junk—
a ruined land, a land in lament.
The whole countryside is a wasteland,
and no one will really care.
* * *
12-13 “The barbarians will invade,
swarm over hills and plains.
The judgment sword of God will take its toll
from one end of the land to the other.
Nothing living will be safe.
They will plant wheat and reap weeds.
Nothing they do will work out.
They will look at their meager crops and wring their hands.
All this the result of God’s fierce anger!”
* * *
14-17 God’s Message: “Regarding all the bad neighbors who abused the land I gave to Israel as their inheritance: I’m going to pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck Judah out from among them. Once I’ve pulled the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take them tenderly to my heart and put them back where they belong, put each of them back in their home country, on their family farms. Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them. But if they won’t listen, then I’ll pull them out of their land by the roots and cart them off to the dump. Total destruction!” God’s Decree.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson