91 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
91 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
Jeremiah's Complaint
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# Chapter 12
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1. You will be righteous, Lord,
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even if I bring a case against you.
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Yet, I wish to contend with you:
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Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
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Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
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2. You planted them, and they have taken root.
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They have grown and produced fruit.
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You are ever on their lips,
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but far from their conscience.
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3. As for you, Lord, you know me; you see me.
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You test whether my heart is with you.
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Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter
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and set them apart for the day of killing.
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4. How long will the land mourn
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and the grass of every field wither?
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Because of the evil of its residents,
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animals and birds have been swept away,
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for the people have said,
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"He cannot see what our end will be.
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"
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The Lord's Response
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5. If you have raced with runners
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and they have worn you out,
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how can you compete with horses?
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If you stumble in a peaceful land,
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what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
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6. Even your brothers--your own father's family--
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even they were treacherous to you;
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even they have cried out loudly after you.
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Do not have confidence in them,
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though they speak well of you.
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7. I have abandoned my house;
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I have deserted my inheritance.
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I have handed the love of my life
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over to her enemies.
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8. My inheritance has behaved toward me
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like a lion in the forest.
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She has roared against me.
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Therefore, I hate her.
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9. Is my inheritance like a hyena to me?
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Are birds of prey circling her?
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Go, gather all the wild animals;
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bring them to devour her.
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10. Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
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they have trampled my plot of land.
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They have turned my desirable plot
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into a desolate wasteland.
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11. They have made it a desolation.
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It mourns, desolate, before me.
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All the land is desolate,
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but no one takes it to heart.
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12. Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
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the destroyers have come,
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for the Lord has a sword that devours
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from one end of the earth to the other.
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No one has peace.
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13. They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.
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They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.
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Be put to shame by your harvests
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because of the Lord's burning anger.
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14. This 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 from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.
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15. After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
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16. If they will diligently learn the ways of my people--to swear by my name, 'As the Lord lives,' just as they taught my people to swear by Baal--they will be built up among my people.
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17. However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation."
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This is the Lord's declaration.
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