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Jeremiah 12

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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¹ You 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?

² You planted them, ⓛ and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, [1] but far from their conscience. [2] ⓜ

³ As 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.

⁴ How 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.” [3] ⓔ

⁵ If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble [4] in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? ⓕ

⁶ Even your brothers — your own father’s family — 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 house; ⓘ I have deserted my inheritance. I have handed the love of my life over to her enemies.

⁸ My inheritance has behaved toward me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against me. Therefore, I hate her. ⓙ

⁹ Is my inheritance like a hyena [5] to me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; ⓚ bring them to devour her.

¹⁰ Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled my plot of land. ⓛ They have turned my desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.

¹¹ They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart. ⓜ

¹² Over 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. ⓝ

¹³ They 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. ⓒ

¹⁴ This 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.

¹⁵ After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion ⓔ on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

¹⁶ If they will diligently learn the ways of my people ⓕ — to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal — they will be built up among my people.

¹⁷ However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.” ⓖ This is the LORD’s declaration.

#	CSB
1	You 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?
2	You planted them, ⓛ and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, [1] but far from their conscience. [2] ⓜ
3	As 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.
4	How 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.” [3] ⓔ
5	If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble [4] in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? ⓕ
6	Even your brothers — your own father’s family — 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 house; ⓘ I have deserted my inheritance. I have handed the love of my life over to her enemies.
8	My inheritance has behaved toward me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against me. Therefore, I hate her. ⓙ
9	Is my inheritance like a hyena [5] to me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; ⓚ bring them to devour her.
10	Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled my plot of land. ⓛ They have turned my desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.
11	They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart. ⓜ
12	Over 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. ⓝ
13	They 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. ⓒ
14	This 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.
15	After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion ⓔ on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
16	If they will diligently learn the ways of my people ⓕ — to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal — they will be built up among my people.
17	However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.” ⓖ This is the LORD’s declaration.

Footnotes & Cross-References

Footnotes

^{Jeremiah 12:27 [25]} The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

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