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Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah’s complaint about prosperous evildoers opens into God’s warning of judgment and his promise of compassion toward uprooted nations.

Jeremiah brings God a complaint: treacherous people prosper while the land and its creatures suffer. He affirms God’s righteousness, then asks for judgment on the wicked. YHWH answers with a warning of harder trials and betrayal within Jeremiah’s own family. God then describes his beloved inheritance devastated by enemies under his judgment. The closing words concern Judah and its neighbors: uprooting will give way to compassion, with a place among God’s people for nations that learn his ways.

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1You are righteous, LORD, when I contend with you; yet I would like to plead a case with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all at ease who deal very treacherously?
2You 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.
3But you, LORD, know me. You see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? Because of the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals and birds are consumed; because they said, “He won’t 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?
6For 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.
8My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. She has uttered her voice against me. Therefore I have hated her.
9Is 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.
10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion under foot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it a desolation. It mourns to me, being desolate. The whole land is made desolate, because no one cares.
12Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of the LORD devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh has peace.
13They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns. They have exhausted themselves, and profit nothing. You will be ashamed of your fruits, because of the LORD’s fierce anger.”
14The LORD 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.
15It will happen that after I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them. I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16It will happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives;’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the middle of my people.
17But if they will not hear, then I will pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it,” says the LORD.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Jeremiah 12:1Jeremiah affirms God’s righteousness while bringing the chapter’s central complaint: treacherous people seem to prosper without consequence.
Jeremiah 12:3Jeremiah appeals to God’s knowledge of his heart and asks for severe judgment against the wicked.
Jeremiah 12:2The image of thriving plants sharpens Jeremiah’s complaint against people whose religious speech conceals hearts far from God.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm shares Jeremiah’s question about the prosperity of the wicked, while Isaiah shares the contrast between religious speech and hearts far from God. Deuteronomy shares the themes of judgment upon the land, uprooting, and compassion that brings scattered people home.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about Jeremiah’s trust in God alongside his demand for judgment?

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How does the closing promise to Judah’s neighbors shape your reading of the chapter’s destruction?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 12

Why does Jeremiah ask why the wicked prosper in Jeremiah 12?

Jeremiah sees treacherous people taking root and bearing fruit while the land suffers because of wickedness. Their speech sounds devout, but their hearts are far from God. He begins by affirming God’s righteousness, then asks God to judge them. YHWH’s response warns Jeremiah of greater opposition ahead.

What does running with horses mean in Jeremiah 12:5?

The contrast between running with footmen and contending with horses warns Jeremiah that greater trials lie ahead. The second image contrasts a peaceful land with the threatening conditions of the Jordan region. The next verse makes the danger personal: even members of Jeremiah’s own family have betrayed him.

Does Jeremiah 12 promise restoration to other nations?

Yes. YHWH says he will have compassion after uprooting Judah and the neighboring nations, bringing people back to their lands. He also promises a place among his people to nations that learn his ways and swear by his name. Nations that refuse to listen face destruction.

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Jeremiah · 52 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).