Passage

Jeremiah 12

Book: Jeremiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously? 2. 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 heart. 3. But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4. 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. 5. 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 pride of the Jordan? 6. 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 fair words unto thee. 7. 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. 8. My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest: she hath uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her. 9. 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. 10. Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11. 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. 12. 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. 13. They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and ye shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. 14. 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. 15. 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. 16. 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. 17. But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, saith Jehovah." (Jeremiah 12:1-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. You are righteous, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet I would reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously? 2. You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they produce fruit. You are near in their mouth, and far from their heart. 3. But you, Yahweh, know me; you see me, and try my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4. How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, “He shall not see our latter end.” 5. “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? Though in a land of peace you are secure, yet how will you do in the pride of the Jordan? 6. For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; even they have cried aloud after you! Don’t believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you. 7. “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. 8. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. She has uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her. 9. Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the animals of the field, bring them to devour. 10. Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion under foot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11. They have made it a desolation. It mourns to me, being desolate. The whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart. 12. Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Yahweh devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh has peace. 13. They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns. They have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing. You shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Yahweh.” 14. Yahweh says, “Concerning all my evil neighbors, who 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. 15. It shall happen, 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. 16. It shall happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the middle of my people. 17. But if they will not hear, then I will pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it,” says Yahweh." (Jeremiah 12:1-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? ^{talk: or, reason the case with thee} 2. 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 reins. ^{they grow: Heb. they go on} 3. But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. ^{toward: Heb. with thee} 4. How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end. 5. If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? 6. For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. ^{they have called: or, they cried after thee fully} ^{fair: Heb. good things} 7. I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. ^{the dearly: Heb. the love} 8. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it. ^{crieth: or, yelleth: Heb. giveth out his voice} 9. Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. ^{speckled: or, taloned} ^{come to: or, cause them to come to} 10. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. ^{pleasant: Heb. portion of desire} 11. They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. 12. The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. 13. They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. ^{they shall: or, ye shall} 14. Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. 17. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 12:1-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Righteous [art] Thou, O Jehovah, When I plead towards thee, Only, judgments do I speak with Thee, Wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper? At rest have been all treacherous dealers. 2. Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, They go on, yea, they have made fruit, Near [art] Thou in their mouth, And far off from their reins. 3. And Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known me, Thou seest me, and hast tried my heart with Thee, Draw them away as sheep to slaughter, And separate them for a day of slaughter. 4. Till when doth the earth mourn, And the herb of the whole field wither? For the wickedness of those dwelling in it, Consumed have been beast and fowl, Because they said, 'He doth not see our latter end.' 5. For, with footmen thou hast run, And they weary thee, And how dost thou fret thyself with horses! Even in the land of peace, [In which] thou art confident, And how dost thou in the rising of Jordan! 6. For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, Even they dealt treacherously against thee, Even they, they called after thee fully, Trust not in them, when they speak to thee good things. 7. I have forsaken My house, I have left Mine inheritance, I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies. 8. Mine inheritance hath been to Me as a lion in a forest, She gave forth against Me with her voice, Therefore I have hated her. 9. A speckled fowl [is] Mine inheritance to Me? Is the fowl round about against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, Come ye for food. 10. Many shepherds did destroy My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness, a desolation. 11. He hath made it become a desolation, The desolation hath mourned unto Me, Desolated hath been all the land, But there is no one laying it to heart. 12. On all high places in the plain have spoilers come in, For the sword of Jehovah is consuming, From the end of the land even unto the end of the land, There is no peace to any flesh. 13. They sowed wheat, and have thorns reaped, They have become sick, they profit not, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah. 14. Thus said Jehovah concerning all my evil neighbours, who are striking against the inheritance that I caused my people, Israel, to inherit: 'Lo, I am plucking them from off their ground, And the house of Judah I pluck out of their midst. 15. And it hath been, after My plucking them out, I turn back, and have pitied them, And I have brought them back, Each to his inheritance, and each to his land. 16. And it hath come to pass, If they learn well the ways of My people, To swear by My name, 'Jehovah liveth,' As they taught My people to swear by Baal, Then they have been built up in the midst of My people. 17. And if they do not hearken, Then I have plucked up that nation, Plucking up and destroying, An affirmation of Jehovah!'" (Jeremiah 12:1-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

OT vs NT God Objection Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.