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 12,13 Jer 12,13
I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the {Or, noisy throng}tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
But the {Hebrew: shame. See chapter 11:13; Hosea 9:10}shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that {Or, pour out a drink-offering}make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to {Or, flee to the stronghold of Pharaoh}strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.
They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of the beasts of the South.Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah!
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Wherefore do ye {Hebrew: weigh.}spend money for that which is not bread? and your {Or, carnings}labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
{Hebrew: since those days were.}Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty.
Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah.
What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.