Jeremiah

The Lord showed me what they were doing,
so I knew they were against me. 19Before the
Lord showed me that the people were against
me, I was like a gentle lamb waiting to be
butchered. I did not understand that they
were against me. They were saying this about
me: “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit! Let
us kill him! Then people will forget him.”
20But, Lord, you are a fair judge. You know
how to test people’s hearts and minds. I will
tell you my arguments, and I will let you give
them the punishment they deserve.
21The men from Anathoth were planning
to kill Jeremiah. They said to him, “Don’t
prophesy* in the name of the Lord, or we will
kill you.” The Lord made a decision about the
men from Anathoth. 22The Lord All-Powerful
said, “I will soon punish these men from Anathoth.
Their young men will die in war. Their
sons and daughters will die from hunger. 23No
JEREMIAH 11:19
one from the city of Anathoth will be left. No
one will survive. I will punish them and cause
something bad to happen to them.”
Jeremiah Complains to God
12 1Lord, if I argue with you,
you are always right.
But I want to ask you about some things
that don’t seem right.
Why are wicked people successful?
Why do people you cannot trust have
such easy lives?
2 You have put these wicked people here
like plants with strong roots.
They grow and produce fruit.
With their mouths they say that you are
near and dear to them,
but in their hearts they are really far
away from you.
3 But you know my heart, Lord.
You see me and test my mind.
Drag the evil people away like sheep to be
killed.
Choose them for the day of slaughter.
4 How much longer will the land be dry?
How long will the grass be dry and
dead?
The birds and the animals of this land
have all died,
and it is the fault of the wicked.
But they are saying,
“ Jeremiah will not live long enough
to see what happens to us.”
God’s Answer to Jeremiah
5 “ Jeremiah, if running in a race against men
makes you tired,
how will you race against horses?
If you trip and fall in a safe place,
what will you do in a dangerous place?
What will you do in the thornbushes
that grow along the Jordan River?
6 These men are your own brothers.
Members of your own family are making
plans against you.
610
People from your own family are
shouting at you.
Don’t trust them,
even when they speak to you like
friends.
The Lord Rejects Judah
7 “ I have abandoned my house.
I have left my own property. a
I have given Judah,* the one I love, to her
enemies.
8 My own people turned against me like a
wild lion.
They roared at me,
so I turned away from them.
9 My own people have become like
a dying animal surrounded by vultures.
These birds are circling around her.
Come on, wild animals.
Come get something to eat.
10 Many shepherds have ruined my
vineyard.*
They have trampled the plants in my
field.
They have made my beautiful field a
desert.
11 They have turned it into an empty desert.
It is dry and dead.
The whole land has been ruined,
and no one is left to care for it.
12 The empty hills are covered with soldiers
who have come to destroy everything.
The Lord is using them to punish that
land from one end to the other.
No one is safe.
13 The people will plant wheat,
but they will harvest only thorns.
They will work hard until they are very
tired,
but they will get nothing for all their
work.
They will be ashamed of their crop.
The Lord’s anger caused this.”
The Lord’s Promise to Israel’s Neighbors
14This is what the Lord says: “I will tell you
what I will do for all those who live around
the land of Israel.* They are very wicked.
They have destroyed the land I gave to the
people of Israel. I will pull the evil people up
and throw them out of their land, and I will
pull the people of Judah up with them. 15But
after I pull them up out of their land, I will
feel sorry for them. I will bring each family
back to its own property and to its own land.
16I want these people to learn their lessons
well. In the past they taught my people to use
Baal’s* name to make promises. Now, I want
them to learn to use my name. I want them
to say, ‘As the Lord lives ….’ If they do that, I
will allow them to be successful, and I will let
them live among my people. 17But if a nation
a 12:7 house … my own property That is, the people
of Judah.