12:1  UNCOMPROMISINGLY RIGHTEOUS {and} rigidly just are You, O Lord, when I complain against {and} contend with You. Yet let me plead {and} reason the case with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all they at ease {and} thriving who deal very treacherously {and} deceitfully?

12:2  You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouths but far from their hearts.

12:3  But You, O Lord, know {and} understand me {and} my devotion to You; You see me and try my heart toward You. [O Lord] pull [these rebellious ones] out like sheep for the slaughter and devote {and} prepare them for the day of slaughter.

12:4  How long must the land mourn and the grass {and} herbs of the whole country wither? Through the wickedness of those who dwell in it, the beasts and the birds are consumed {and} are swept away [by the drought], because men [mocked] me, saying, He shall not [live to] see our final end.

12:5  [But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah's impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take to flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling {and} flooding of the Jordan?

12:6  For even your brethren and the house of your father--even they have dealt treacherously with you; yes, even they are [like a pack of hounds] in full cry after you. Believe them not, though they speak fair words {and} promise good things to you.

12:7  I have forsaken My house, I have cast off My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My life into the hands of her enemies.

12:8  My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest; she has uttered her voice against Me; therefore I have [treated her as if I] hated her.

12:9  Is My heritage to Me like a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her round about? Go, assemble all the wild beasts of the field; bring them to devour.

12:10  Many shepherds [of an invading host] have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled My portion underfoot; they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

12:11  They have made it a desolation, and desolate it mourns before Me; the whole land has been made desolate, but no man lays it to heart.

12:12  Destroyers have come upon all the bare heights in the desert, for the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the land even to the other; no flesh has peace {or} can find the means to escape.

12:13  They have sown wheat but have reaped thorns; they have worn themselves out but without profit. And they shall be ashamed of your [lack of] harvests {and} revenues because of the fierce {and} glowing anger of the Lord.

12:14  Thus says the Lord against all My evil neighbor [nations] who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from their land and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

12:15  And after I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them and will bring them back again, every man to his heritage and every man to his land.

12:16  And if these [neighbor nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, saying, As the Lord lives--even as they taught My people to swear by Baal--then will they be built up in the midst of My people.

12:17  But if any nation will not hear and obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, says the Lord.