Jeremiah’s Question
1 RighteousareYou, OLord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You aboutYourjudgments.
# Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Whyare those happy who deal so treacherously?
2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
# Youarenear in their mouth
But far from their mind.
3 But You, OLord,know me;
You have seen me,
# And You havetested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
# And prepare them forthe day of slaughter.
4 How long willthe land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
# The beasts and birds are consumed,
# For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5 “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
Andifin the land of peace,
Inwhichyou trusted,theyweariedyou,
# Then how will you do inthe floodplain of the Jordan?
6 For evenyour brothers, the house of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you;
Yes, they have called a multitude after you.
# Do not believe them,
Even though they speak smooth words to you.
7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;
It cries out against Me;
# Therefore I havehated it.
9 My heritageisto Melikea speckled vulture;
The vultures all aroundareagainst her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
# Bring them to devour!
10 “Manyrulers have destroyedMy vineyard,
# They havetrodden My portion underfoot;
They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made itdesolate;
Desolate, it mourns to Me;
The whole land is made desolate,
# Becauseno one takesitto heart.
12 The plunderers have come
On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,
For the sword of theLordshall devour
Fromoneend of the land to theotherend of the land;
No flesh shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat but reaped thorns;
They have put themselves to painbutdo not profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of theLord.”
14 Thus says theLord: “Against all My evil neighbors whotouch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit—behold, I willpluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on themand bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land.
16 And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people,to swear by My name, ‘As theLordlives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall beestablished in the midst of My people.
17 But if they do notobey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says theLord.