| New Living Translation | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1LORD, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? | 1You will be righteous, LORD, even if I bring a case against You. Yet, I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous live at ease? |
| 2You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts. | 2You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience. |
| 3But as for me, LORD, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered! | 3As for You, LORD, You know me; You see me. You test whether my heart is with You. Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter and set them apart for the day of killing. |
| 4How long must this land mourn? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. For the people have said, “The LORD doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!” The LORD’s Reply to Jeremiah | 4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, "He cannot see what our end will be." |
| 5“If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan? | 5If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? |
| 6Even your brothers, members of your own family, have turned against you. They plot and raise complaints against you. Do not trust them, no matter how pleasantly they speak. | 6Even your brothers--your own father's household-- even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you. |
| 7“I have abandoned my people, my special possession. I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies. | 7I have abandoned My house; I have deserted My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies. |
| 8My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest, so I have treated them with contempt. | 8My inheritance has acted toward Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me. Therefore, I hate her. |
| 9My chosen people act like speckled vultures, but they themselves are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean! | 9Is My inheritance like a hyena to Me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour her. |
| 10“Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard, trampling down the vines and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness. | 10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of land. They have turned My desirable plot into a desolate wasteland. |
| 11They have made it an empty wasteland; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate, and no one even cares. | 11They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before Me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart. |
| 12On all the bare hilltops, destroying armies can be seen. The sword of the LORD devours people from one end of the nation to the other. No one will escape! | 12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the LORD has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace. |
| 13My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the LORD.” A Message for Israel’s Neighbors | 13They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the LORD's burning anger. |
| 14Now this is what the LORD says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. | 14This is what the LORD says: "Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. |
| 15But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. | 15After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. |
| 16And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. | 16If they will diligently learn the ways of My people--to swear by My name, 'As Yahweh lives,' just as they taught My people to swear by Baal--they will be built up among My people. |
| 17But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken!” | 17However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation." This is the LORD's declaration. |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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