Jeremiah’s Complaint

1You will be righteous, LORD, a

even if I bring a case against You.

Yet, I wish to contend with You: b

Why does the way of the wicked prosper? c

Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

2You planted them, d and they have taken root.

They have grown and produced fruit.

You are ever on their lips, e

but far from their conscience. f  g

3As for You, LORD, You know me; You see me. h

You test whether my heart is with You. i

Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter j

and set them apart for the day of killing.

4How long will the land mourn k

and the grass of every field wither?

Because of the evil of its residents,

animals and birds have been swept away, l

for the people have said,

“He cannot see what our end will be.” m  n

The Lord’s Response

5If you have raced with runners

and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble o in a peaceful land,

what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? p

6Even your brothers — your own father’s household —

even they were treacherous to you; q

even they have cried out loudly after you. r

Do not have confidence in them,

though they speak well of you.

7I have abandoned My house; s

I have deserted My inheritance.

I have given the love of My life

into the hands of her enemies.

8My inheritance has acted toward Me

like a lion in the forest.

She has roared against Me.

Therefore, I hate her. t

9Is My inheritance like a hyena u to Me?

Are birds of prey circling her?

Go, gather all the wild animals; v

bring them to devour her.

10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard;

they have trampled My plot of land. w

They have turned My desirable plot

into a desolate wasteland.

11They have made it a desolation.

It mourns, desolate, before Me.

All the land is desolate,

but no one takes it to heart. x

12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness

the destroyers have come,

for the LORD has a sword that devours

from one end of the earth to the other.

No one has peace. y

13They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. z

They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. aa

Be put to shame by your harvests

because of the LORD’s burning anger. ab

14This is what the LORD says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them ac from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion ad on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. 16If they will diligently learn the ways of My people ae — to swear by My name, ‘As ^•Yahweh lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by ^•Baal — they will be built up among My people. 17However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.” af

This is the LORD’s declaration.