Jeremiah 12:1-14:10

New American Standard Bible

Jeremiah’s Prayer

12 ^(A)Righteous are You, Lord, when I plead my case with You;
Nevertheless I would ^(B)discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the ^(C)way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who ^(D)deal in treachery at ease?
²You have ^(E)planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have also produced fruit.
You are ^(F)near ^[a]to their lips
But far from their ^[b]mind.
³But You ^(G)know me, Lord;
You see me
And ^(H)examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter,
And ^[c]set them apart for a ^(I)day of slaughter!
⁴How long is the ^(J)land to mourn,
And the ^(K)vegetation of the ^[d]countryside to dry up?
Due to the ^(L)wickedness of those who live in it,
^(M)Animals and birds have been snatched away,
Because people have said, “He will not see our final ^(N)end.”

⁵“If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out,
How can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the ^(O)thicket by the Jordan?
⁶For even your ^(P)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, though they say ^(Q)nice things to you.”

God’s Answer

⁷“I have ^(R)forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have handed the ^(S)beloved of My soul
Over to her enemies.
⁸My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has ^[e]^(T)roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to ^(U)hate her.
⁹Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the ^(V)birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the ^(W)animals of the field,
Bring them to devour!
¹⁰Many ^(X)shepherds have ruined My ^(Y)vineyard,
They have ^(Z)trampled down My field;
They have made My ^(AA)pleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
¹¹^[f]It has been made a desolation;
Desolate, it ^(AB)mourns ^[g]before Me;
The ^(AC)whole land has been made desolate,
Because no one ^(AD)takes it to heart.
¹²On all the ^[h]^(AE)bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For the ^(AF)sword of the Lord is devouring
From one end of the land even to the ^[i]other;
There is ^(AG)no peace for ^[j]anyone.
¹³They have ^(AH)sown wheat but have harvested thorns,
They have ^(AI)strained themselves ^[k]to no profit.
So be ashamed of your ^(AJ)produce
Because of the ^(AK)fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord says concerning all My ^(AL)wicked neighbors who ^(AM)do harm to the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel: “Behold, I am going to drive them out of their land, and I will ^(AN)drive the house of Judah out from among them. ¹⁵And it will come about that after I have driven them out, I will ^(AO)again have compassion on them; and I will ^(AP)bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. ¹⁶Then, if they will really ^(AQ)learn the ways of My people, to ^(AR)swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they taught My people to ^(AS)swear by Baal, they will be ^(AT)built up in the midst of My people. ¹⁷But if they do not listen, then I will ^(AU)drive out that nation, drive it out and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

The Ruined Undergarment

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and ^(AV)buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.” ²So I bought the undergarment in accordance with the ^(AW)word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. ³Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, ⁴“Take the undergarment that you bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the ^(AX)Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, ^(AY)as the Lord had commanded me. ⁶After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the undergarment which I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the undergarment from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the undergarment was ruined, it was completely useless.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹“This is what the Lord says: ‘To the same extent I will destroy the ^(AZ)pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This wicked people, who ^(BA)refuse to listen to My words, who ^(BB)walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have followed other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this undergarment which is completely useless. ¹¹For as the undergarment clings to the waist of a man, so I made the entire household of Israel and the entire household of Judah ^(BC)cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘so that they might be My people, for ^[l]^(BD)renown, for ^(BE)praise, and for glory; but they ^(BF)did not listen.’

Captivity Threatened

¹²“Therefore you are to speak this word to them. ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ ¹³then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with ^(BG)drunkenness! ¹⁴Then I will ^(BH)smash them against each other, both the ^(BI)fathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will ^(BJ)not have compassion nor be troubled nor take pity so as to keep from destroying them.”’”

¹⁵Listen and pay attention, do not be ^(BK)haughty;
For the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶^(BL)Give glory to the Lord your God
Before He brings ^(BM)darkness
And before your ^(BN)feet stumble
On the mountains in the dark,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into ^(BO)gloom,
And turns it into thick darkness.
¹⁷But ^(BP)if you do not listen to it,
My soul will ^(BQ)weep in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will shed
And stream down tears,
Because the ^(BR)flock of the Lord has been taken captive.
¹⁸Say to the ^(BS)king and the queen mother,
“^(BT)Take a lowly seat,
For your beautiful ^(BU)crown
Has come down from your head.”
¹⁹The ^(BV)cities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All ^(BW)Judah has been taken into exile,
Wholly taken into exile.

²⁰“Raise your eyes and see
Those coming ^(BX)from the north.
Where is the ^(BY)flock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?
²¹What will you say when He appoints over you—
And you yourself had taught them—
Former ^(BZ)companions to be head over you?
Will ^(CA)sharp pains not take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?
²²If you ^(CB)say in your heart,
‘^(CC)Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the ^(CD)magnitude of your wrongdoing
^(CE)Your skirts have been removed
And your ^[m]heels have suffered violence.
²³^(CF)Can the Ethiopian change his skin,
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you as well can ^(CG)do good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.
²⁴Therefore I will ^(CH)scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert ^(CI)wind.
²⁵This is your ^(CJ)lot, the portion measured to you
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Because you have ^(CK)forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
²⁶So I Myself have ^(CL)stripped your skirts off over your face,
So that your shame will be seen.
²⁷As for your ^(CM)adulteries and your lustful neighings,
The ^(CN)outrageous sin of your prostitution
On the ^(CO)hills in the field,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
^(CP)How long will you remain unclean?”

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

14 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah regarding the ^(CQ)drought:

²“Judah mourns
And ^(CR)her gates languish;
Her people sit on the ground ^(CS)in mourning garments,
And the ^(CT)cry of Jerusalem has ascended.
³Their nobles have ^(CU)sent their ^[n]servants for water;
They have come to the ^(CV)cisterns and found no water.
They have returned with their containers empty;
They have been ^(CW)put to shame and humiliated,
And they ^(CX)cover their heads,
⁴Because the ^(CY)ground is ^[o]cracked,
For there has been ^(CZ)no rain on the land.
The ^(DA)farmers have been put to shame,
They have covered their heads.
⁵For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young,
Because there is ^(DB)no grass.
⁶The ^(DC)wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
They pant for air like jackals,
Their eyes fail
Because there is ^(DD)no vegetation.
⁷Though our ^(DE)wrongdoings testify against us,
Lord, act ^(DF)for the sake of Your name!
Our ^(DG)apostasies have indeed been many,
We have ^(DH)sinned against You.
⁸^(DI)Hope of Israel,
Its ^(DJ)Savior in ^(DK)time of distress,
Why are You like a stranger in the land,
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?
⁹Why are You like a confused person,
Like a warrior who ^(DL)cannot save?
Yet ^(DM)You are in our midst, Lord,
And we are ^(DN)called by Your name;
Do not leave us!”

¹⁰This is what the Lord says to this people: “So much they have ^(DO)loved to wander; they have not ^(DP)restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does ^(DQ)not accept them; now He will ^(DR)remember their wrongdoing and call their sins to account.”