The Lord Answers Jeremiah

Jeremiah 12

5 "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted, they wearied you,
Then how will you do in j the 1 floodplain of the Jordan? 6 For even k your brothers, the house of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you;
Yes, they have called 2 a multitude after you.
l Do not believe them,
Even though they speak 3 smooth words to you.

7 "I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. 8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;
It cries out against Me;
Therefore I have m hated it. 9 My 4 heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;
The vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
n Bring them to devour! 10 "Many o rulers 5 have destroyed p My vineyard,
They have q trodden My portion underfoot;
They have made My 6 pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it r desolate;
Desolate, it mourns to Me;
The whole land is made desolate,
Because s no one takes it to heart. 12 The plunderers have come
On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,
For the sword of the LORD shall devour
From one end of the land to the other end of the land;
No flesh shall have peace. 13 t They have sown wheat but reaped thorns;
They have 7 put themselves to pain but do not profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of the LORD."

14 Thus says the LORD: "Against all My evil neighbors who u touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit - behold, I will v pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 w "Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them x and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. 16 "And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, y to swear by My name, 'As the LORD lives,' as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be z established in the midst of My people. 17 "But if they do not a obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation," says the LORD.

  1. Cross References
    Joshua 3:15
    And as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest).
    1 Chronicles 12:15
    These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.
  2. Cross References
    Genesis 37:4 - 11
    But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
    Job 6:15
    My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, Like the streams of the brooks that pass away.
    Psalms 69:8
    I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother's children.
    Jeremiah 9:4
    Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.
    Jeremiah 9:5
    Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
  3. Cross References
    Psalms 12:2
    They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
    Proverbs 26:25
    When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart.
  4. Cross References
    Hosea 9:15
    All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious.
    Amos 6:8
    The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, The LORD God of hosts says: "I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.
  5. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:22
    I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.
  6. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:3
    The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.
    Jeremiah 23:1
    Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 80:8 - 16
    You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
    Isaiah 5:1 - 7
    Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 63:18
    Your holy people have possessed it but a little while; Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 10:22
    Behold, the noise of the report has come, And a great commotion out of the north country, To make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.
    Jeremiah 22:6
    For thus says the LORD to the house of the king of Judah: "You are Gilead to Me, The head of Lebanon; Yet I surely will make you a wilderness, Cities which are not inhabited.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:25
    Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart.
  11. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:16
    I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
    Deuteronomy 28:38
    You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it.
    Micah 6:15
    You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
    Haggai 1:6
    "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:3
    Israel was holiness to the LORD, The firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; Disaster will come upon them," says the LORD.'
    Jeremiah 50:11
    Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, You destroyers of My heritage, Because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, And you bellow like bulls.
    Jeremiah 50:12
    Your mother shall be deeply ashamed; She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, A dry land and a desert.
    Zechariah 2:8
    For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.
  13. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 30:3
    That the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.
    Psalms 106:47
    Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise.
    Isaiah 11:11 - 16
    It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
    Jeremiah 32:37
    Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
  14. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:20
    Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
    Lamentations 3:32
    Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.
    Ezekiel 28:25
    Thus says the Lord GOD: "When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
  15. Cross References
    Amos 9:14
    I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:2
    And you shall swear, 'The LORD lives,' In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory.
    Zephaniah 1:5
    Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the LORD, But who also swear by Milcom.
  17. Cross References
    Ephesians 2:20
    Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.
    Ephesians 2:21
    In whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
    1 Peter 2:5
    You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 2:8 - 12
    Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
    Isaiah 60:12
    For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, And those nations shall be utterly ruined.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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