Jeremiah 12
12Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?H6662H3068H7378H1696H4941H1870H7563H6743H7951H899H898 2You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts.H5193H8327H3212H6213H6529H7138H6310H7350H3629 3But as for me, Lord, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered!H3068H3045H7200H974H3820H5423H6629H2878H6942H3117H2028 4How long must this land mourn? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. For the people have said, “The Lord doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!”H776H56H6212H7704H3001H7451H3427H929H5595H5775H559H7200H319 5“If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?H7323H7273H3811H8474H5483H776H7965H982H6213H1347H3383 6Even your brothers, members of your own family, have turned against you. They plot and raise complaints against you. Do not trust them, no matter how pleasantly they speak.H251H1004H1H898H7121H4392H310H539H1696H2896 7“I have abandoned my people, my special possession. I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies.H5800H1004H5203H5159H5414H3033H5315H3709H341 8My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest, so I have treated them with contempt.H5159H738H3293H5414H6963H8130 9My chosen people act like speckled vultures, but they themselves are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean!H5159H6641H5861H5861H5439H3212H622H2416H7704H857H402 10“Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard, trampling down the vines and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness.H7227H7462H7843H3754H947H2513H947H5414H2532H2513H8077H4057 11They have made it an empty wasteland; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate, and no one even cares.H7760H8076H8077H56H776H8074H376H7760H3820 12On all the bare hilltops, destroying armies can be seen. The sword of the Lord devours people from one end of the nation to the other. No one will escape!H7703H935H8205H4057H2719H3068H398H7097H776H7097H776H1320H7965 13My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”H2232H2406H7114H6975H2470H3276H954H8393H2740H639H3068 14Now this is what the Lord says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them.H559H3068H7451H7934H5060H5159H5971H3478H5157H5428H127H5428H1004H3063H8432 15But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession.H310H5428H7725H7355H7725H376H5159H376H776 16And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people.H3925H3925H1870H5971H7650H8034H3068H2416H3925H5971H7650H1168H1129H8432H5971 17But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H8085H5428H5428H6H1471H5002H3068
Jeremiah 13
13This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”H559H3068H1980H7069H6593H232H7760H4975H935H43252So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on.H7069H232H1697H3068H7760H49753Then the Lord gave me another message:H1697H3068H8145H5594“Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”H3947H232H7069H4975H6965H3212H6578H2934H5357H55535So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.H3212H2934H6578H3068H66806A long time afterward the Lord said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”H7093H7227H3117H3068H559H6965H3212H6578H3947H232H6680H29347So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.H3212H6578H2658H3947H232H4725H2934H232H7843H67438Then I received this message from the Lord:H1697H3068H5599“This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.H559H3068H7843H1347H3063H7227H1347H338910These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing!H7451H5971H3987H8085H1697H1980H8307H3820H3212H310H312H430H5647H7812H232H674311As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.H232H1692H4975H376H1692H1004H3478H1004H3063H5002H3068H5971H8034H8416H8597H808512“So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ And they will reply, ‘Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!’H559H1697H559H3068H430H3478H5035H4390H3196H559H3045H3045H5035H4390H319613“Then tell them, ‘No, this is what the Lord means: I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness—from the king sitting on David’s throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem.H559H559H3068H4390H3427H776H4428H3427H1732H3678H3548H5030H3427H3389H794314I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the Lord. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’”H5310H376H251H1H1121H3162H5002H3068H2550H2347H7355H784315Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.H8085H238H1361H3068H169616Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.H5414H3519H3068H430H2821H7272H5062H5399H2022H6960H216H7760H6757H7896H7896H620517And if you still refuse to listen, I will weep alone because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be led away into exile.H8085H5315H1058H4565H6440H1466H5869H1830H1830H3381H1832H3068H5739H761718Say to the king and his mother, “Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns will soon be snatched from your heads.”H559H4428H1377H8213H3427H4761H3381H5850H859719The towns of the Negev will close their gates, and no one will be able to open them. The people of Judah will be taken away as captives. All will be carried into exile.H5892H5045H5462H6605H3063H1540H7965H154020Open up your eyes and see the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock—your beautiful flock—that he gave you to care for?H5375H5869H7200H935H6828H5739H5414H8597H662921What will you say when the Lord takes the allies you have cultivated and appoints them as your rulers? Pangs of anguish will grip you, like those of a woman in labor!H559H6485H3925H441H7218H2256H270H802H320522You may ask yourself, “Why is all this happening to me?” It is because of your many sins! That is why you have been stripped and raped by invading armies.H559H3824H7122H7230H5771H7757H1540H6119H255423Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil.H3569H2015H5785H5246H2272H3201H3190H3928H748924“I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the desert winds.H6327H7179H5674H7307H405725This is your allotment, the portion I have assigned to you,” says the Lord, “for you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods.H1486H4490H4055H5002H3068H7911H982H826726I myself will strip you and expose you to shame.H2834H7757H6440H7036H720027I have seen your adultery and lust, and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills. What sorrow awaits you, Jerusalem! How long before you are pure?”H7200H5004H4684H2154H2184H8251H1389H7704H188H3389H2891H5750H310
Jeremiah 14
14This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord, explaining why he was holding back the rain.H1697H3068H3414H1697H12262“Judah wilts; commerce at the city gates grinds to a halt. All the people sit on the ground in mourning, and a great cry rises from Jerusalem.H3063H56H8179H535H6937H776H6682H3389H59273The nobles send servants to get water, but all the wells are dry. The servants return with empty pitchers, confused and desperate, covering their heads in grief.H117H7971H6810H4325H935H1356H1360H4672H4325H7725H3627H7387H954H3637H2645H72184The ground is parched and cracked for lack of rain. The farmers are deeply troubled; they, too, cover their heads.H127H2865H1653H776H406H954H2645H72185Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn because there is no grass in the field.H365H3205H7704H5800H18776The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills panting like thirsty jackals. They strain their eyes looking for grass, but there is none to be found.”H6501H5975H8205H7602H7307H8577H5869H3615H62127The people say, “Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord, but help us for the sake of your own reputation. We have turned away from you and sinned against you again and again.H3068H5771H6030H6213H8034H4878H7231H23988O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble, why are you like a stranger to us? Why are you like a traveler passing through the land, stopping only for the night?H4723H3478H3467H6256H6869H1616H776H732H5186H38859Are you also confused? Is our champion helpless to save us? You are right here among us, Lord. We are known as your people. Please don’t abandon us now!”H376H1724H1368H3201H3467H3068H7130H7121H8034H324010So this is what the Lord says to his people: “You love to wander far from me and do not restrain yourselves. Therefore, I will no longer accept you as my people. Now I will remember all your wickedness and will punish you for your sins.”H559H3068H5971H157H5128H2820H7272H3068H7521H2142H5771H6485H240311Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore.H559H3068H6419H5971H289612When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”H6684H8085H7440H5927H5930H4503H7521H3615H2719H7458H169813Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, their prophets are telling them, ‘All is well—no war or famine will come. The Lord will surely send you peace.’”H559H162H136H3069H5030H559H7200H2719H7458H5414H571H7965H472514Then the Lord said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.H3068H559H5030H5012H8267H8034H7971H6680H1696H5012H8267H2377H7081H457H434H8649H382015Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine!H559H3068H5030H5012H8034H7971H559H2719H7458H776H2719H7458H5030H855216As for the people to whom they prophesy—their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one left to bury them. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters—all will be gone. For I will pour out their own wickedness on them.H5971H5012H7993H2351H3389H6440H7458H2719H6912H1992H802H1121H1323H8210H745117Now, Jeremiah, say this to them: “Night and day my eyes overflow with tears. I cannot stop weeping, for my virgin daughter—my precious people—has been struck down and lies mortally wounded.H559H1697H5869H3381H1832H3915H3119H1820H1330H1323H5971H7665H1419H7667H3966H2470H434718If I go out into the fields, I see the bodies of people slaughtered by the enemy. If I walk the city streets, I see people who have died of starvation. The prophets and priests continue with their work, but they don’t know what they’re doing.”H3318H7704H2491H2719H935H5892H8463H7458H5030H3548H5503H776H304519Lord, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you really hate Jerusalem? Why have you wounded us past all hope of healing? We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.H3988H3988H3063H5315H1602H6726H5221H4832H6960H7965H2896H6256H4832H120520Lord, we confess our wickedness and that of our ancestors, too. We all have sinned against you.H3045H3068H7562H5771H1H239821For the sake of your reputation, Lord, do not abandon us. Do not disgrace your own glorious throne. Please remember us, and do not break your covenant with us.H5006H8034H5034H3678H3519H2142H6565H128522Can any of the worthless foreign gods send us rain? Does it fall from the sky by itself? No, you are the one, O Lord our God! Only you can do such things. So we will wait for you to help us.H3426H1892H1471H1652H8064H5414H7241H3068H430H6960H6213
Dublin, OH
, but they themselves are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean!H5159
