Jeremiah, Chapter 12

1. Righteous, art thou O Yahweh, when I present my pleading unto thee, -- Yet, concerning the things that are right, let me speak with thee, -- Wherefore hath, the way of the lawless, prospered? [Wherefore] have all, utter traitors, been at ease?    2. Thou didst plant them, yea they took root, They have gone on yea they have borne fruit, -- Near, art thou, in their mouth, But far off from their affections,    3. But thou O Yahweh, knowest me, Wilt thou observe me and try my heart towards thee? Drag them away, as sheep for slaughter, And hallow them for the day when they are to be slain.    4. How long, shall the land mourn, And, the herbage of the whole field, wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, beast and bird, have perished, For say they, He will not see our latter end!    5. If, with the footmen, thou hast run and they have wearied thee, How then wilt thou hotly contend with horses? Though in a safe land thou art confident, Yet how wilt thou deal with the proud banks of the Jordan?    6. For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even they! have betrayed thee, Even they, have cried after thee with full voice, -- Do not trust in them, though they speak unto thee fair words.    7. I have forsaken mine own house, I have given up mine inheritance, -- I have delivered the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies:    8. Mine inheritance, hath become to me as a lion in a jungle, -- She hath given forth against me her voice, For this cause, have I hated her.    9. Is it, a variegated bird of prey, that mine inheritance is to me? The birds of prey, are round about against her! Go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field bring them to devour.    10. Many shepherds, have laid waste my vineyard, They have trampled down my portion, -- They have turned my coveted portion into a desert of desolation:    11. It hath been made a desolation, It hath mourned unto me as desolate, -- All the land hath become a desolation, For, no man, layeth it to heart.    12. On all the bare heights in the wilderness, have come despoilers, For the sword of Yahweh hath devoured from one end of the land unto the other, -- There is peace for no flesh!    13. They sowed, wheat, but thorns, have they reaped, They have put themselves to pain they shall not be profited, -- Yea turn ye pale at your produce, Because if the glow of the anger of Yahweh.    14. Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning all my wicked neighbours, who have been touching the inheritance which I gave as an inheritance unto my people Israel, -- Behold me! uprooting them from off their own soil, Whereas the house of Judah, will I uproot out of their midst.    15. And it shall come to pass after I bare uprooted them, I will again have compassion upon them, -- and will bring them back -- Every man -- to his own inheritance and Every man -- to his own land.    16. And it shall come to pass -- If they will, diligently learn, the ways of my people -- To swear by my Name saying, By the life of Yahweh, As they taught my people to swear by Baal, Then shall they be built in the midst of my people.    17. But if they will not hearken, Then will I Uproot that nation, Uproot, that I may destroy, -- Declareth Yahweh.