Jeremias 12:1-11

1 Righteous art thou, O Lord, that I may make my defence to thee, yea, I will speak to thee judgments. Why that the way of ungodly prospers? all that deal very treacherously are flourishing?

2 Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root; they have begotten children, and become fruitful; thou art near to their mouth, and far from their reins.

3 But thou, Lord, knowest me; thou hast proved my heart before thee; purify them for the day of their slaughter.

4 How long shall the land mourn, and the grass of the field wither, for the wickedness of them, that dwell in it? the beasts and birds are utterly destroyed; because said, God shall not see our ways.

5 Thy feet run, and they cause thee to faint; how wilt thou prepare upon horses? and thou hast been confident in the land of thy peace? how wilt thou do in the roaring of Jordan?

6 For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, even these have dealt treacherously with thee; and they have cried out, they are gathered together in pursuit of thee; trust not thou in them, though they shall speak fair to thee.

7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given my beloved one into the hands of her enemies.

8 My inheritance has become to me as a lion in a forest; she has uttered her voice against me; therefore have I hated her.

9 Is not my inheritance to me a hyaena's cave, or a cave round about her? Go ye, gather together all the wild beasts of the field, and let them come to devour her.

10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have defiled my portion, they have made my desirable portion a trackless wilderness;

11 it is made a complete ruin: for my sake the whole land has been utterly ruined, because there is none that lays to heart.

Jeremias 12:1-11 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.