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12  Tika tonu koe, e Ihowa, ina totohe ahau ki a koe; otiia kia korerotia e ahau ki a koe nga whakaritenga: He aha i whai pai ai te ara o te hunga kino? he aha i noho humarie ai te hunga katoa he nui rawa nei to ratou tinihanga?

Whakatokia ana ratou e koe, ae ra kua whai pakiaka ratou; kei te tupu ake, ae ra kua whai hua; i o ratou manga i e tata ana koe; i o ratou whatumanawa ia kei tawhiti koe.

Otiia e mohio ana koe ki ahau, e Ihowa, kua kite koe i ahau, e whakamatautau ana hoki koe i toku ngakau ki a koe: toia mai ratou ano he hipi e patua ana, motuhia atu ratou mo te ra o te parekura.

Kia pehea te roa o te whenua ka tangi nei, o te otaota o nga mara katoa ka maroke nei? hei mea mo te kino o ona tangata, kua pau ona kararehe me nga manu; no te mea i ki ratou, E kore ia e kite i to tatou mutunga iho.

Na, mehemea i rere koe i roto i te hunga haere i raro, a ka ngenge i a ratou, ka pehea ra tau whakataetae ki nga hoiho? na ahakoa u tou noho i te whenua rangatira, ka pehea ra koe i te whakapehapeha o Horona?

Ko ou tuakana nei hoki, ko ou teina, me te whare o tou papa, kei te tinihanga ki a koe, ko ratou ano kei te karanga nui i muri i a koe: kaua e whakapono ki ta ratou, ina korero pai ki a koe.

Kua mahue i ahau toku whare, whakarerea ake toku kainga pumau; tukua ana e ahau te wahine i arohaina e toku wairua ki te ringa o ona hoariri.

Ko toku kainga tupu, tona rite ki ahau kei te raiona i roto i te ngahere: hamama ana ia ki ahau, na reira kino iho ahau ki a ia.

Ko toku kainga tupu, ki ahau he rite ki te manu kotingotingo; hei hoariri mona nga manu i tetahi taha, i tetahi taha. Haere mai koutou, huihuia mai nga kirehe katoa o te parae, mauria mai ki te horo kai.

10 Moti ake taku mara waina i nga hepara tokomaha, kua takatakahia e ratou toku wahi, kua meinga hoki e ratou taku wahi i matenui ai hei koraha, ururua rawa.

11 Kua meinga e ratou hei ururua, a i a ia e ururua nei, tangi ana ia ki ahau; kua ururua katoa te whenua, no te mea kahore he tangata e mahara ake ana tona ngakau.

12 Kua tae nga kaipahua ki nga wahi tiketike katoa o te koraha; ka kai hoki te hoari a Ihowa i tetahi pito o te whenua a tae noa ki tetahi pito o te whenua: ki nga kikokiko katoa kahore he maunga rongo.

13 He witi ta ratou i rui ai, he tataramoa ta ratou i kokoti ai; kua whakamamae ratou i a ratou, a kahore he pai ki a ratou: ka whakama ano koutou ki a koutou hua i te riri o Ihowa ka mura nei.

14 Ko te kupu tenei a Ihowa mo oku hoa tata katoa e kino nei, kua pa nei ki te wahi tupu i hoatu e ahau mo taku iwi, mo Iharaira, Tenei ahau te huhuti atu nei i a ratou i runga i to ratou whenua, ka hutia atu ano e ahau te whare o Hura i waenganui i a ratou.

15 A tenei ake, kua mutu taku huhuti atu i a ratou, ka hoki ahau, ka aroha ki a ratou, ka whakahoki ano i a ratou ki tona wahi, ki tona wahi, ki tona whenua, ki tona whenua.

16 A tenei ake, ki te ako marie ratou ki nga ara o taku iwi, a ka oatitia toku ingoa, ara, E ora ana a Ihowa; ki te pera ratou me ratou i whakaako ra i taku iwi kia oatitia a Paara; katahi ka hanga ratou ki waenganui i taku iwi.

17 Tena ko tenei e kore ratou e rongo, katahi taua iwi ka hutia rawatia atu e ahau, ka whakangaromia, e ai ta Ihowa.

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,(A) Lord,
    when I bring a case(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(C)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(D)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
You have planted(E) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.(F)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.(G)
Yet you know me, Lord;
    you see me and test(H) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep(I) to be butchered!
    Set them apart for the day of slaughter!(J)
How long will the land lie parched(K)
    and the grass in every field be withered?(L)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
    the animals and birds have perished.(M)
Moreover, the people are saying,
    “He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

“If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[a] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets(N) by[b] the Jordan?
Your relatives, members of your own family—
    even they have betrayed you;
    they have raised a loud cry against you.(O)
Do not trust them,
    though they speak well of you.(P)

“I will forsake(Q) my house,
    abandon(R) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love(S)
    into the hands of her enemies.(T)
My inheritance has become to me
    like a lion(U) in the forest.
She roars at me;
    therefore I hate her.(V)
Has not my inheritance become to me
    like a speckled bird of prey
    that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.(W)
10 Many shepherds(X) will ruin my vineyard
    and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
    into a desolate wasteland.(Y)
11 It will be made a wasteland,(Z)
    parched and desolate before me;(AA)
the whole land will be laid waste
    because there is no one who cares.
12 Over all the barren heights in the desert
    destroyers will swarm,
for the sword(AB) of the Lord(AC) will devour(AD)
    from one end of the land to the other;(AE)
    no one will be safe.(AF)
13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
    they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.(AG)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
    because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”(AH)

14 This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance(AI) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot(AJ) them from their lands and I will uproot(AK) the people of Judah from among them. 15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion(AL) and will bring(AM) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16 And if they learn(AN) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’(AO)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal(AP)—then they will be established among my people.(AQ) 17 But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy(AR) it,” declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
  2. Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of

12 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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.

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.

10 Many pastors 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 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.

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.