Jeremiah’s Plea

1Righteous are You, O Yahweh, when I would plead my case with You;

Indeed I would speak matters of justice with You:

Why has the way of the wicked succeeded?

Why are all those who deal in treachery complacent?

2You have planted them; they have also taken root;

They grow; they have even produced fruit.

You are near [†]to their lips

But far from their [†]inmost being.

3But You, O Yahweh, You know me;

You see me;

And You test my heart’s attitude toward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter

And [†]set them apart for a day of carnage!

4How long is the land to mourn

And the plants of every field to dry up?

Because of the evil of those who inhabit it,

Animals and birds have been swept away,

Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

Yahweh Answers Jeremiah

5“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the [†]thicket of the Jordan?

6For even your brothers and the household of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you,

Even they have called aloud after you.

Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”

7“I have forsaken My house;

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have given the beloved of My soul

Into the hand of her enemies.

8My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has given forth its voice against Me;

Therefore I have come to hate her.

9Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the birds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the beasts of the field,

Bring them to devour!

10Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard;

They have trampled down My portion;

They have made My desired portion

A desolate wilderness.

11[†]It has been made a desolation;

Desolate, it mourns [†]before Me;

The whole land has been made desolate

Because no man sets it upon his heart.

12On all the [†]bare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For a sword of Yahweh is devouring

From one end of the land even to the [†]other;

There is no peace for any flesh.

13They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;

They have strained themselves [†]to no profit.

But be ashamed of your produce

Because of the burning anger of Yahweh.”

14Thus says Yahweh concerning all My evil neighbors who beat at the inheritance with which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, “Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will cause them to return, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and make it perish,” declares Yahweh.