Jeremiah’s Complaint
1You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
4How long will the land lie parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”
God’s Answer
5“If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble12:5 Or you feel secure only in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by12:5 Or the flooding of the Jordan?
6Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.
7“I will forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love
into the hands of her enemies.
8My inheritance has become to me
like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.
9Has 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.
10Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
11It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the Lord will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.
13They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”
14This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people. 17But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.
耶利米的抱怨
1耶和华啊，每次我与你争论，
都显明你是对的。
然而，我还是和你讨论公正：
为什么恶人总是得势？
为什么诡诈之人反而生活安逸？
2你栽培他们，让他们生根长大，
结出果实。
他们嘴上尊崇你，
心却远离你。
3但耶和华啊，你认识我，了解我，
察验我是否一心向你。
求你拖走他们，
就像拖走待宰的羊，
留到宰杀之日。
4大地哀恸、
田野的植物枯槁要到何时呢？
由于这地方居民的罪恶，
野兽和飞鸟都灭绝了。
他们说：“上帝看不见我们的行为12:4 “上帝看不见我们的行为”参照《七十士译本》，希伯来文也可译作“他（指耶利米）看不见我们的结局”。。”
5耶和华说：“如果你与步行的人竞走，
尚且感到疲乏，
又怎能与马赛跑呢？
如果你在安全之地尚且跌倒，
在约旦河边的丛林中又会怎样呢？
6就连你的弟兄和家人都背叛了你，
叫嚣着与你为敌。
任他们甜言蜜语，你不要相信。
7“我已离开我的殿，
撇弃我的产业，
把我爱的子民交给他们的敌人。
8我的产业像林中的狮子一样向我吼叫，
因此我憎恶他们；
9我的产业就像一只带斑点的鸷鸟，
被其他鸷鸟围攻。
去招聚一切野兽来吞吃它吧！
10列国的首领毁坏我的葡萄园，
践踏我美好的土地，
使之沦为荒凉的旷野。
11他们使这片土地荒凉，
荒凉之地在我面前哀哭。
遍地如此荒凉，却无人在意。
12毁灭者已上到旷野中光秃的山岭，
耶和华的刀剑横扫全境，
无人可以平安稳妥。
13我的子民播种麦子，
却收割荆棘；
辛勤耕耘，却一无所获。
因耶和华的烈怒，他们必收获羞辱。”
14耶和华说：“邪恶的邻国侵占了我赐给我以色列子民的土地，我要将他们从本土连根拔起，我要将犹大家从他们中间连根拔起。 15我将他们连根拔起以后，还要再怜悯他们，把他们带回各自的家园和故土。 16如果他们真心学习我子民的信仰，凭永活的耶和华之名起誓，正如他们教导我子民凭巴力起誓一样，他们必归入我的子民中。 17如果哪一国不听我的话，我必把它连根拔起，彻底毁灭。这是耶和华说的。”
