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But as for me—Lord, you know my heart—you know how much it longs for you. (And I am poor,[a] O Lord!) Lord, drag them off like helpless sheep to the slaughter. Judge them, O God!

How long must this land of yours put up with all their goings-on? Even the grass of the field groans and weeps over their wicked deeds! The wild animals and birds have moved away, leaving the land deserted. Yet the people say, “God won’t bring judgment on us. We’re perfectly safe!”

The Lord replied to me: If racing with mere men—these men of Anathoth—has wearied you, how will you race against horses, against the king, his court, and all his evil priests?[b] If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in Jordan’s jungles?

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:3 I am poor, implied.
  2. Jeremiah 12:5 these men of Anathoth . . . against the king, his court, and all his evil priests, implied.

Yet you know me, Lord;
    you see me and test(A) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep(B) to be butchered!
    Set them apart for the day of slaughter!(C)
How long will the land lie parched(D)
    and the grass in every field be withered?(E)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
    the animals and birds have perished.(F)
Moreover, the people are saying,
    “He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

“If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[a] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets(G) by[b] the Jordan?

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
  2. Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of