1 RIGHTEOUS art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
3 But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
14 Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; 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 obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

1Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I pleade with thee: yet let mee talke with thee of thy iudgements: Wherefore doeth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happie that deale very treacherously?

2Thou hast planted them, yea they haue taken root: they grow, yea they bring foorth fruit, thou art neere in their mouth, and farre from their reines.

3But thou, O Lord, knowest me; thou hast seene me, and tried mine heart towards thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

4How long shall the land mourne, and the herbes of euery field wither, for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds, because they said; He shall not see our last end.

5 If thou hast runne with the footmen, and they haue wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou doe in the swelling of Iordan?

6For euen thy brethren and the house of thy father, euen they haue dealt treacherously with thee, yea they haue called a multitude after thee; beleeue them not, though they speake faire words vnto thee.

7 I haue forsaken mine house: I haue left mine heritage: I haue giuen the dearely beloued of my soule into the hand of her enemies.

8Mine heritage is vnto me as a lyon in the forrest: it cryeth out against me, therefore haue I hated it.

9Mine heritage is vnto mee as a speckled bird, the birdes round about are against her; come yee, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to deuoure.

10Many pastors haue destroyed my vineyard; they haue troden my portion vnder foote: they haue made my pleasant portion a desolate wildernesse.

11They haue made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth vnto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.

12The spoilers are come vpon all high places through the wildernesse: for the sword of the Lord shall deuoure from the one end of the land euen to the other end of the land: no flesh shall haue peace.

13They haue sowen wheate, but shall reape thornes: they haue put themselues to paine, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your reuenues, because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

14 Thus saith the Lord against all mine euill neighbours, that touch the inheritance, which I haue caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will plucke them out of their land, and plucke out the house of Iudah from among them.

15And it shall come to passe after that I haue plucked them out, I will returne, and haue compassion on them, and will bring againe euery man to his heritage, and euery man to his land.

16And it shall come to passe, if they will diligently learne the wayes of my people to sweare by my name (The Lord liueth, as they taught my people to sweare by Baal:) then shall they be built in the middest of my people.

17But if they will not obey, I will vtterly plucke vp, and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

II == Isa 29:13 ; Matt 15:8 ; Mark 7:6

III == Ps 17:3 ; 139:1 ; Jer 11:20 ; James 5:5

IV == Ps 107:34 ; Jer 4:25 ; 7:20 ; 9:10 ; 23:10 ; Hos 4:3

V == Josh 3:15 ; 1st Chr 12:15 ; Jer 49:19 ; 50:44

VI == Prov 26:25 ; Jer 9:4 ; 11:19 , 21

IX == Isa 56:9 ; Jer 7:33

X == Isa 5:1 , 5 ; 63:18 ; Jer 6:3

XIII == Lev 26:16 ; Deut 28:38

XIV == Deut 30:3 ; Jer 32:37 ; Zech 2:8

XV == Ezek 28:25 ; Amos 9:14

XVI == Jer 4:2 ; Eph 2:20-21 ; 1st Peter 2:5

XVII == Lev 26:19 ; Isa 60:12

1 You would be in the right, O LORD, if I should dispute with you; even so, I must discuss the case with you. Why does the way of the godless prosper, why live all the treacherous in contentment?

2 You planted them; they have taken root, they keep on growing and bearing fruit. You are upon their lips, but far from their inmost thoughts.

3 You, O Lord, know me, you see me, you have found that at heart I am with you. Pick them out like sheep for the slaughter, set them apart for the day of carnage.

4 How long must the earth mourn, the green of the whole countryside wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it beasts and birds disappear, because they say, "God does not see our ways."

5 If running against men has wearied you, how will you race against horses? And if in a land of peace you fall headlong, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

6 For even your own brothers, the members of your father's house, betray you; they have recruited a force against you. Do not believe them, even if they are friendly to you in their words.

19 Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized that they were hatching plots against me: "Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more."

20 But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge, searcher of mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause!

21 Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD; else you shall die by our hand."

22 Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: I am going to punish them. The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and daughters shall die by famine.

23 None shall be spared among them, for I will bring misfortune upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.

7 I abandon my house, cast off my heritage; The beloved of my soul I deliver into the hand of her foes.

8 My heritage has turned on me like a lion in the jungle; Because she has roared against me, I treat her as an enemy.

9 My heritage is a prey for hyenas, is surrounded by vultures; Come, gather together, all you beasts of the field, come and eat!

10 Many shepherds have ravaged my vineyard, have trodden my heritage underfoot; The portion that delighted me they have turned into a desert waste.

11 They have made it a mournful waste, desolate it lies before me, Desolate, all the land, because no one takes it to heart.

12 Upon every desert height brigands have come up. The LORD has a sword which consumes the land, from end to end: no peace for all mankind.

13 They have sown wheat and reaped thorns, they have tired themselves out to no purpose; They recoil before their harvest, the flaming anger of the LORD.

14 Thus says the LORD against all my evil neighbors who plunder the heritage which I gave my people Israel as their own: See, I will pluck them up from their land; the house of Judah I will pluck up in their midst.

15 But after plucking them up, I will pity them again and bring them back, each to his heritage, each to his land.

16 And if they carefully learn my people's custom of swearing by my name, "As the LORD lives," they who formerly taught my people to swear by Baal shall be built up in the midst of my people.

17 But if they do not obey, I will uproot and destroy that nation entirely, says the LORD.

v 1-4. Job asked, Job 12:6, “Why do the wicked prosper?”  It seemed God was blessing  the hypocritical people more than He was Jeremiah, who was being faithful to Him. The people were indifferent, as though they thought God wouldn’t see their sin.

v 5,6. God warned Jeremiah that if he thought things were tough now, they were going to get worse. Compare Prov. 24:10, and heed the lesson today. God compared his present race to that with horses and the clear ground to thickets along Jordan. His own family had joined the plot, so don’t trust them, but trust God in good times & bad.

v 7-13. God returns to His promise to punish the very people He loved, because they had turned on him as lions. They had become different, like a strange speckled bird that would be attacked by other birds. Judah is compared to a vineyard which is trampled down by shepherds and flocks. The Babylonians, as God’s sword, would devastate the country, with the result that crop land would bear only thorns.

v 14-17. The wicked nations that harmed Judah would later be uprooted. God will judge them, but later have compassion upon them. If those nations learn God’s ways and turn to Him, He will restore them to their lands in the millennium. If they continue to rebel against the Lord, then they will be utterly destroyed.