Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah's Complaint

1 m Righteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
n Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all o who are treacherous thrive?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
p you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3 q But you, O Lord, know me;
r you see me, and test my heart toward you.
s Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for t the day of slaughter.
4 u How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
v For the evil of those who dwell in it
w the beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, "He will not see our latter end."

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in x the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For y even your brothers and the house of your father,
o even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
z do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you."

7 "I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned a my heritage;
I have given b the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 a My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is a my heritage to me like c a hyena's lair?
Are the c birds of prey against her all around?
Go, d assemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
e they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, u it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
f but no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 g They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
h they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their 1 harvests
i because of the fierce anger of the Lord."

14 Thus says the Lord concerning all j my evil neighbors k who touch the heritage that l I have given my people Israel to inherit: "Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, m and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, n to swear by my name, 'As the Lord lives,' even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, o then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 p But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord."

  1. Cross References
    Ezra 9:15
    O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.
    Psalms 51:4
    Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
    Lamentations 1:18
    The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity.
    Daniel 9:7
    To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.
  2. Cross References
    Job 12:6
    The tents of robbers are at peace, and those wh...
    Psalms 37:1
    Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not ...
    Psalms 37:7
    Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for...
    Psalms 92:7
    That though the wicked sprout like grass and al...
    Habakkuk 1:13
    You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and ...
    Malachi 3:15
    And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers...
    Job 21:7 - 15
    Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow...
    Psalms 73:3 - 12
    For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw th...
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 21:2
    A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:13
    And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:15
    O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach.
    Psalms 139:1
    O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 17:3
    You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
  7. Cross References
    2 Peter 2:12
    But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction.
  8. Cross References
    James 5:5
    You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:11
    They have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, but no man lays it to heart.
    Jeremiah 9:10
    I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.
    Jeremiah 23:10
    For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 107:34
    A fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
  11. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:25
    I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled.
    Jeremiah 7:20
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.
    Jeremiah 9:10
    I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.
    Hosea 4:3
    Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
    Romans 8:22
    For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 49:19
    Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?
    Jeremiah 50:44
    Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?
    Zechariah 11:3
    The sound of the wail of the shepherds, for their glory is ruined! The sound of the roar of the lions, for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
    Joshua 3:15
    And as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest).
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 9:4
    Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
    Jeremiah 11:19
    But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.
    Jeremiah 11:21
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, "Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand" -
  14. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:1
    Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
  15. Cross References
    Proverbs 26:25
    When he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 19:25
    Whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 11:15
    What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:7
    I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.
  19. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:7
    I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 46:11
    Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 46:11
    Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
  22. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:33
    And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.
    Isaiah 56:9
    All you beasts of the field, come to devour - all you beasts in the forest.
    Ezekiel 39:17
    As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God : Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, 'Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.
    Revelation 19:17
    Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 63:18
    Your holy people held possession for a little while; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
  24. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:4
    How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, "He will not see our latter end.
  25. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:25
    So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.
  26. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:16
    Then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
    Deuteronomy 28:38
    You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it.
    Micah 6:15
    You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
    Haggai 1:6
    You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 55:2
    Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
    Habakkuk 2:13
    Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing?
  28. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:8
    For this put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for...
    Jeremiah 4:26
    I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a d...
    Jeremiah 25:37 - 38
    And the peaceful folds are devastated because o...
    Jeremiah 30:24
    The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back...
    Jeremiah 49:37
    I will terrify Elam before their enemies and be...
    Jeremiah 51:45
    Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let ever...
    Lamentations 1:12
    Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look...
    Lamentations 4:11
    The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured...
  29. Cross References
    Psalms 137:7
    Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!
    Ezekiel 25:1
    The word of the Lord came to me:
  30. Cross References
    Zechariah 2:8
    For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye:
  31. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:18
    In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
  32. Cross References
    Jeremiah 48:47
    Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the Lord." Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
    Jeremiah 49:6
    "But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord."
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:2
    And if you swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
  34. Cross References
    Jeremiah 24:6
    I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them.
    1 Peter 2:5
    You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
  35. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:12
    For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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