Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I {Hebrew: speak of judgements.}reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
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 {Hebrew: reins.}heart.
But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and {Hebrew: sanctify.}prepare them for the day of slaughter.
How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our latter end.
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the {Or, swelling}pride of the Jordan?
For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee: believe them not, though they speak {Hebrew: good things.}fair words unto thee.
I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest: she hath uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her.
Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
They have made it a desolation; it mourneth unto me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
Destroyers are come upon all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace.
They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and {Or, be ye ashamed Or, they shall be ashamed}ye shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As Jehovah liveth; even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of my people.
But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 12,1 Jer 12,1
But, O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the {Hebrew: reins.}heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Surely I would speak to the Almighty,And I desire to reason with God.
They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee: believe them not, though they speak {Hebrew: good things.}fair words unto thee.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
The tents of robbers prosper,And they that provoke God are secure; {Or, That bring their god to their hand}Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah.
The Rock, his work is perfect;For all his ways are justice:A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,Just and right is he.
Wherefore do the wicked live,Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
Their seed is established with them in their sight,And their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,Neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,And their children dance.
They {Hebrew: lift up the voice.}sing to the timbrel and harp,And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
And they say unto God, Depart from us;For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,And done that which is evil in thy sight;That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest,And be clear when thou judgest.
A Psalm of David.Fret not thyself because of evil-doers,Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness.
But they {Or, are as men that have transgressed a covenant}like {Or, men}Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
I know, O Jehovah, that thy judgments are righteous,And that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.
I have seen the wicked in great power,And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
צ TSADHE.Righteous art thou, O Jehovah,And upright {Or, in thy judgements}are thy judgments.
For I was envious at the {Or, fools}arrogant,When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pangs in their death;But their strength is firm.
They are not {Hebrew: in the trouble of men.}in trouble as other men;Neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness: {Or, The imagination of their heart overflow}They have more than heart could wish.
They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:They speak {Or, from on high}loftily.
They have set their mouth {Or, against}in the heavens,And their tongue walketh through the earth.
Therefore {Another reading is, he will bring back his people.}his people return hither:And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
And they say, How doth God know?And is there knowledge in the Most High?
Behold, these are the wicked;And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,And washed my hands in innocency;
For all the day long have I been plagued,And {Hebrew: my chastisement was.}chastened every morning.
If I had said, I will speak thus;Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
When I thought how I might know this,It was {Hebrew: labor in mine eyes.}too painful for me;
Until I went into the sanctuary of God,And considered their latter end.
Surely thou settest them in slippery places:Thou castest them down to {Hebrew: ruins.}destruction.
How are they become a desolation in a moment!They are utterly consumed with terrors.
As a dream when one awaketh,So, O Lord, {Or, in the city}when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
For my soul was {Hebrew: was in a ferment.}grieved,And I was pricked in my {Hebrew: reins.}heart:
So brutish {Or, am}was I, and ignorant;I was as a beast {Hebrew: with thee.}before thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee:Thou hast holden my right hand.
Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,And afterward receive me {Or, with}to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?And there is none upon earth that I desire {Or, with thee}besides thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth;But God is the {Hebrew: rock.}strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.
But it is good for me to draw near unto God:I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,That I may tell of all thy works.
Jehovah is righteous in all his ways,And gracious in all his works.
When the wicked spring as the grass,And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
Jehovah, how long shall the wicked,How long shall the wicked triumph?
Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;
and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.
Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food {Hebrew: fat.}plenteous.
Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?
They prate, they speak arrogantly:All the workers of iniquity boast themselves.
Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; {Hebrew: morning by morning.}every morning doth he bring his justice to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them,And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
But if our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath? (I speak after the manner of men.)
Therefore the law is slacked, and justice {Or, goeth not forth unto victory}doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
{Greek: Be it not so: and so elsewhere.}God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
and now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and escape.