Jeremiah 12:3-17

But as for me, YAHWEH, you know me fully. You see me, and you understand me. You have tested my feelings for you and found that I am fully devoted to you. Set them aside like sheep that are going to be killed; keep them ready for the time of their slaughter. How much longer will the land mourn? How much longer must the birds and animals perish? Even the grass of every field withers because of the wickedness of these people! For the people boast, “God doesn’t see what happens to us.” “So, the footmen have beaten you, have they? How, then, will you run with the cavalry? If you stumble in the open country, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? For even your brothers and relatives have betrayed you, and are in full pursuit of you. Don’t believe them when they speak to you as friends.” “I have abandoned my house of Israel and deserted the people I call my own. I have surrendered the beloved of my soul over to her enemies. My own inheritance has turned against me like savage, roaring lions in the jungle; therefore, I will deal with her as though I hate her. Are hyenas and birds of prey all trying to devour the people I chose for myself? Are birds of prey circling around her? Go, gather all the wild beasts and bring them to devour her. Many rulers have destroyed my vineyard. They have trampled my property and have made my magnificent fields into a desolate desert. They have left it a wasteland— wasted, waterless, and empty before me. The whole land is laid waste, yet there is no one who seems to care. Many destroyers have marched over those barren hills. YAHWEH’s sword has devoured the people throughout the land; no one is safe. The people planted wheat but reaped nothing but weeds. They wearied themselves for nothing. They will be disappointed by their small harvest because of the burning anger of YAHWEH.” YAHWEH Here is what YAHWEH said to me concerning our evil neighboring nations who attacked the land he promised to my people Israel: “I will uproot those nations and throw them off their land. I will also uproot the people of Judah and rescue them from the midst of their enemies. Then after a period of exile, I will again show compassion to each nation and bring each one back to their homelands. They once taught my people to worship Baal, but if they acknowledge me as the only true God, and if they learn from my people how to worship me, then I will establish them and prosper them alongside my people. However, if they don’t listen to me, I will uproot them from their lands and completely destroy them. I, YAHWEH, have spoken.”

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