Jeremías 12:12-17

12 Se pueden ver ejércitos destructores
en todas las cumbres desiertas de las colinas.
La espada del Señor
devora a la gente
de un extremo al otro de la nación.
¡Nadie escapará!

13 Mi pueblo sembró trigo
pero cosecha espinos.
Se esforzó
pero no le sirvió de nada.
Cosechará vergüenza
debido a la ira feroz del Señor
».

14 Mensaje a los vecinos de Israel
Esto dice el Señor
: «Desarraigaré de sus tierras a todas las naciones malvadas que extendieron la mano para tomar lo que le di a Israel. Desarraigaré a Judá de entre ellos,

15 pero después regresaré y tendré compasión de todos ellos. Los llevaré de regreso a su tierra, cada nación a su propia heredad.

16 Y si en verdad estas naciones aprenden los caminos de mi pueblo y si aprenden a jurar por mi nombre, y dicen: “Tan cierto como que el Señor
vive” (así como ellos enseñaron a mi pueblo a jurar por el nombre de Baal), entonces se les dará un lugar entre mi pueblo;

17 pero la nación que rehúse obedecerme será arrancada de raíz y destruida. ¡Yo, el Señor
, he hablado!».

Jeremías 12:12-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 12

This chapter contains the prophets complaint of the prosperity of the wicked, and the Lord's answer to it; an account of the deplorable and miserable estate of the Jewish nation; and a threatening to the neighbouring nations that had used them ill; with a promise of deliverance of the Jews from them, and settlement among God's people in case of obedience. The prophet's complaint is in Jer 12:1,2 in which he asserts the justice of God, yet seems at a loss to reconcile it with the prosperity of the wicked; and the rather, because of their hypocrisy; and appeals to the Lord for his own sincerity and uprightness, Jer 12:3 and prays for the destruction of the wicked, and that the time might hasten, for whose wickedness the land was desolate, and herbs, beasts, and birds, consumed, Jer 12:3,4, the Lord's answer, in which he reproves him for his pusillanimity, seeing he had greater trials than those to encounter with, and instructs him how to behave towards his treacherous friends, is in Jer 12:5,6 the account of the miserable condition of the Jewish nation is from Jer 12:7-14, under the simile of a house and heritage left by the Lord, given up to enemies, and compared to a lion and a speckled bird, hateful to God, and hated by those about it, Jer 12:7-9 and of a vineyard destroyed and trodden down by shepherds, and made desolate, Jer 12:10,11 even as a wilderness through the ravage of the sword; so that what is sown upon it comes to nothing, Jer 12:12,13 then follows a threatening to those who had carried the people of Israel captive, with a promise to deliver the Jews out of their hands, and bring them into their own land, and settle them among the Lord's people, in case they use diligence to learn their ways, Jer 12:14-16, but in case of disobedience are threatened to be plucked up and utterly destroyed, Jer 12:17.