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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 12:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 12:1	Strong Concordance	Righteous [06662] art thou, O LORD [03068], when I plead [07378] with thee: yet let me talk [01696] with thee of thy judgments [04941]: Wherefore doth the way [01870] of the wicked [07563] prosper [06743]? wherefore are all they happy [07951] that deal very [0899] treacherously [0898]?
	King James	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?

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
CONTINUATION OF THE SUBJECT AT THE CLOSE OF THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER. (Jer. 12:1-17) (Psa 51:4). let me talk, &c.--only let me reason the case with Thee: inquire of Thee the causes why such wicked men as these plotters against my life prosper (compare Job 12:6; Job 21:7; Psa 37:1, Psa 37:35; Psa 73:3; Mal 3:15). It is right, when hard thoughts of God's providence suggest themselves, to fortify our minds by justifying God beforehand (as did Jeremiah), even before we hear the reasons of His dealings.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

CONTINUATION OF THE SUBJECT AT THE CLOSE OF THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER. (Jer. 12:1-17)

(Psa 51:4).

let me talk, &c.--only let me reason the case with Thee: inquire of Thee the causes why such wicked men as these plotters against my life prosper (compare Job 12:6; Job 21:7; Psa 37:1, Psa 37:35; Psa 73:3; Mal 3:15). It is right, when hard thoughts of God's providence suggest themselves, to fortify our minds by justifying God beforehand (as did Jeremiah), even before we hear the reasons of His dealings.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Yet let me talk ... - Rather, yet will I speak with thee on a matter of right. This sense is well given in the margin. The prophet acknowledges the general righteousness of God's dealings, but cannot reconcile with it the properity of the conspirators of Anathoth This difficulty was often present to the minds of the saints of the Old Testament, see Job 21:7 ff; Ps. 37; Ps. 73. Happy - Rather, secure, tranquil.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The prophet's displeasure at the prosperity of the wicked. - The enmity experienced by Jeremiah at the hands of his countrymen at Anathoth excites his displeasure at the prosperity of the wicked, who thrive and live with immunity. He therefore beings to expostulate with God, and demands from God's righteousness that they be cut off out of the land (Jer 12:1-4); whereupon the Lord reproves him for this outburst of ill-nature and impatience by telling him that he must patiently endure still worse. - This section, the connection of which with the preceding is unmistakeable, shows by a concrete instance the utter corruptness of the people; and it has been included in the prophecies because it sets before us the greatness of God's long-suffering towards a people ripe for destruction. Jer 12:1 "Righteous art Thou, Jahveh, if I contend with Thee; yet will I plead with Thee in words. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper, are all secure that deal faithlessly? Jer 12:2. Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root; grow, yea, bring forth fruit. Near art Thou in their mouth, yet far from their reins. Jer 12:3. But Thou, Jahveh, knowest me, seest me, and triest mine heart toward Thee. Tear them away like sheep to the slaughter, and devote them for a day of slaughter. Jer 12:4. How long is the earth to mourn and the herb of the field to wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, gone are cattle and fowl; for they say: He sees not our end. Jer 12:5. If with the footmen thou didst run and they wearied thee, how couldst thou contend with the horses? and if thou trustest in the land of peace, how wilt thou do in the glory of Jordan? Jer 12:6. For even thy brethren and they father's house, even they are faithless towards thee, yea, they call after thee with full voice. Believe them not, though they speak friendly to thee." The prophet's complaint begins by acknowledging: Thou art righteous, Lord, if I would dispute with Thee, i.e., would accuse Thee of injustice. I could convict Thee of no wrong; Thou wouldst appear righteous and prove Thyself in the right. Psa 51:6; Job 9:2. With אך comes in a limitation: only he will speak pleas of right, maintain a suit with Jahveh, will set before Him something that seems incompatible with God's justice, namely the question: Why the way of the wicked prospers, why they that act faithlessly are in ease and comfort? On this cf. Job 21:7., where Job sets forth at length the contradiction between the prosperity of the wicked and the justice of God's providence. The way of the wicked is the course of their life, their conduct. God has planted them, i.e., has placed them in their circumstances of life; like a tree they have struck root into the ground; they go on, i.e., grow, and bear fruit, i.e., their undertakings succeed, although they have God in their mouth only, not in their heart. Jer 12:3 To show that he has cause for his question, Jeremiah appeals to the omniscience of the Searcher of hearts. God knows him, tries his heart, and therefore knows how it is disposed towards Himself (אתּך belongs to לבּי, and את indicating the relation - here, viz., fidelity - in which the heart stands to God; cf. Sa2 16:17). Thus God knows that in his heart there is no unfaithfulness, and that he maintains to God an attitude altogether other than that of those hypocrites who have God on their lips only; and knows too the enmity which, without having provoked it, he experiences. How then comes it about that with the prophet it goes ill, while with those faithless ones it goes well? God, as the righteous God, must remove this contradiction. And so his request concludes: Tear them out (נתק of the tearing out of roots, Eze 17:9); here Hiph. with the same force (pointing back to the metaphor of their being rooted, Jer 12:2), implying total destruction. Hence also the illustration: as sheep, that are dragged away out of the flock to be slaughtered. Devote them for the day of slaughter, like animals devoted to sacrifice. Jer 12:4 Jer 12:4 gives the motive of his prayer: How long shall the earth suffer from the wickedness of these hypocrites? be visited with drought and dearth for their sins? This question is not to be taken as a complaint that God is punishing without end; Hitz. so takes it, and then proposes to delete it as being out of all connection in sense with Jer 12:3 or Jer 12:5. It is a complaint because of the continuance of God's chastisement, drawn down by the wickedness of the apostates, which are bringing the land to utter ruin. The mourning of the land and the withering of the herb is a consequence of great drought; and the drought is a divine chastisement: cf. Jer 3:3; Jer 5:24., Jer 14:2., etc. But this falls not only on the unfaithful, but upon the godly too, and even the beasts, cattle, and birds suffer from it; and so the innocent along with the guilty. There seems to be injustice in this. To put an end to this injustice, to rescue the innocent from the curse brought by the wickedness of the ungodly, the prophet seeks the destruction of the wicked. ספה, to be swept away. The 3rd pers. fem. sing. with the plural ות-, as in Joe 1:20 and often; cf. Ew. 317, a, Gesen. 146, 3. "They that dwell therein" are inhabitants of the land at large, the ungodly multitude of the people, of whom it is said in the last clause: they say, He will not see our end. The sense of these words is determined by the subject. Many follow the lxx (οὐκ ὄψεται ὁ Θεὸς ὁδοὺς ἡμῶν) and refer the seeing to God. God will not see their end, i.e., will not trouble Himself about it (Schnur., Ros., and others), or will not pay any heed to their future fate, so that they may do all they choose unpunished (Ew.). But to this Graf has justly objected, that ראה, in all the passages that can be cited for this sense of the word, is used only of that which God sees, regards as already present, never of that which is future. "He sees" is to be referred to the prophet. Of him the ungodly say, he shall not see their end, because they intend to put him out of the way (Hitz.); or better, in a less special sense, they ridicule the idea that his prophecies will be fulfilled, and say: He shall not see our end, because his threatenings will not come to pass. Jer 12:5-6 In Jer 12:5 and Jer 12:6 the Lord so answers the prophet's complaint as to reprove his impatience, by intimating that he will have to endure still worse. Both parts of Jer 12:5 are of the nature of proverbs. If even the race with footmen made him weary, how will he be able to compete with horses? תּחרה here and Jer 22:15, a Tiph., Aramaic form for Hiph., arising by the hardening of the ה into ת-cf. Hos 11:3, and Ew. 122, a - rival, vie with. The proverb exhibits the contrast between tasks of smaller and greater difficulty, applied to the prophet's relation to his enemies. What Jeremiah had to suffer from his countrymen at Anathoth was but a trifle compared with the malign assaults that yet awaited him in the discharge of his office. The second comparison conveys the same thought, but with a clearer intimation of the dangers the prophet will undergo. If thou puttest thy trust in a peaceful land, there alone countest on living in peace and safety, how wilt thou bear thyself in the glory of Jordan? The latter phrase does not mean the swelling of Jordan, its high flood, so as that we should with Umbr. and Ew., have here to think of the danger arising from a great and sudden inundation. It is the strip of land along the bank of the Jordan, thickly overgrown with shrubs, trees, and tall reeds, the lower valley, flooded when the river was swollen, where lions had their haunt, as in the reedy thickets of the Euphrates. Cf. v. Schubert, Resie, iii. S. 82; Robins. Bibl. Researches in Palestine, i. 535, and Phys. Geogr. of the Holy Land, p. 147. The "pride of the Jordan" is therefore mentioned in Jer 49:19; Jer 50:44; Zac 11:3, as the haunt of lions, and comes before us here as a region where men's lives were in danger. The point of the comparison is accordingly this: Thy case up till this time is, in spite of the onsets thou hast borne, to be compared to a sojourn in a peaceful land; but thou shalt come into much sorer case, where thou shalt never for a moment be sure of thy life. To illustrate this, he is told in Jer 12:6 that his nearest of kin, and those dwelling under the same roof, will behave unfaithfully towards him. They will cry behind him מלא, plena voce (Jerome; cf. קראוּ מלאוּ, Jer 4:5). They will cry after him, "as one cries when pursuing a thief or murderer" (Gr.). Perfectly apposite is therefore Luther's translation: They set up a hue and cry after thee. These words are not meant to be literally taken, but convey the thought, that even his nearest friends will persecute him as a malefactor. It is therefore a perverse design that seeks to find the distinction between the inhabitants of Anathoth and the brethren and housemates, in a contrast between the priests and the blood-relations. Although Anathoth was a city of the priests, the men of Anathoth need not have been all priests, since these cities were not exclusively occupied by priests. - In this reproof of the prophet there lies not merely the truth that much sorer suffering yet awaits him, but the truth besides, that the people's faithlessness and wickedness towards God and men will yet grow greater, ere the judgment of destruction fall upon Judah; for the divine long-suffering is not yet exhausted, nor has ungodliness yet fairly reached its highest point, so that the final destruction must straightway be carried out. But judgment will not tarry long. This thought is carried on in what follows.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The prophet's displeasure at the prosperity of the wicked. - The enmity experienced by Jeremiah at the hands of his countrymen at Anathoth excites his displeasure at the prosperity of the wicked, who thrive and live with immunity. He therefore beings to expostulate with God, and demands from God's righteousness that they be cut off out of the land (Jer 12:1-4); whereupon the Lord reproves him for this outburst of ill-nature and impatience by telling him that he must patiently endure still worse. - This section, the connection of which with the preceding is unmistakeable, shows by a concrete instance the utter corruptness of the people; and it has been included in the prophecies because it sets before us the greatness of God's long-suffering towards a people ripe for destruction.

Jer 12:1

"Righteous art Thou, Jahveh, if I contend with Thee; yet will I plead with Thee in words. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper, are all secure that deal faithlessly? Jer 12:2. Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root; grow, yea, bring forth fruit. Near art Thou in their mouth, yet far from their reins. Jer 12:3. But Thou, Jahveh, knowest me, seest me, and triest mine heart toward Thee. Tear them away like sheep to the slaughter, and devote them for a day of slaughter. Jer 12:4. How long is the earth to mourn and the herb of the field to wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, gone are cattle and fowl; for they say: He sees not our end. Jer 12:5. If with the footmen thou didst run and they wearied thee, how couldst thou contend with the horses? and if thou trustest in the land of peace, how wilt thou do in the glory of Jordan? Jer 12:6. For even thy brethren and they father's house, even they are faithless towards thee, yea, they call after thee with full voice. Believe them not, though they speak friendly to thee."

The prophet's complaint begins by acknowledging: Thou art righteous, Lord, if I would dispute with Thee, i.e., would accuse Thee of injustice. I could convict Thee of no wrong; Thou wouldst appear righteous and prove Thyself in the right. Psa 51:6; Job 9:2. With אך comes in a limitation: only he will speak pleas of right, maintain a suit with Jahveh, will set before Him something that seems incompatible with God's justice, namely the question: Why the way of the wicked prospers, why they that act faithlessly are in ease and comfort? On this cf. Job 21:7., where Job sets forth at length the contradiction between the prosperity of the wicked and the justice of God's providence. The way of the wicked is the course of their life, their conduct. God has planted them, i.e., has placed them in their circumstances of life; like a tree they have struck root into the ground; they go on, i.e., grow, and bear fruit, i.e., their undertakings succeed, although they have God in their mouth only, not in their heart.

Jer 12:3

To show that he has cause for his question, Jeremiah appeals to the omniscience of the Searcher of hearts. God knows him, tries his heart, and therefore knows how it is disposed towards Himself (אתּך belongs to לבּי, and את indicating the relation - here, viz., fidelity - in which the heart stands to God; cf. Sa2 16:17). Thus God knows that in his heart there is no unfaithfulness, and that he maintains to God an attitude altogether other than that of those hypocrites who have God on their lips only; and knows too the enmity which, without having provoked it, he experiences. How then comes it about that with the prophet it goes ill, while with those faithless ones it goes well? God, as the righteous God, must remove this contradiction. And so his request concludes: Tear them out (נתק of the tearing out of roots, Eze 17:9); here Hiph. with the same force (pointing back to the metaphor of their being rooted, Jer 12:2), implying total destruction. Hence also the illustration: as sheep, that are dragged away out of the flock to be slaughtered. Devote them for the day of slaughter, like animals devoted to sacrifice.

Jer 12:4

Jer 12:4 gives the motive of his prayer: How long shall the earth suffer from the wickedness of these hypocrites? be visited with drought and dearth for their sins? This question is not to be taken as a complaint that God is punishing without end; Hitz. so takes it, and then proposes to delete it as being out of all connection in sense with Jer 12:3 or Jer 12:5. It is a complaint because of the continuance of God's chastisement, drawn down by the wickedness of the apostates, which are bringing the land to utter ruin. The mourning of the land and the withering of the herb is a consequence of great drought; and the drought is a divine chastisement: cf. Jer 3:3; Jer 5:24., Jer 14:2., etc. But this falls not only on the unfaithful, but upon the godly too, and even the beasts, cattle, and birds suffer from it; and so the innocent along with the guilty. There seems to be injustice in this. To put an end to this injustice, to rescue the innocent from the curse brought by the wickedness of the ungodly, the prophet seeks the destruction of the wicked. ספה, to be swept away. The 3rd pers. fem. sing. with the plural ות-, as in Joe 1:20 and often; cf. Ew. 317, a, Gesen. 146, 3. "They that dwell therein" are inhabitants of the land at large, the ungodly multitude of the people, of whom it is said in the last clause: they say, He will not see our end. The sense of these words is determined by the subject. Many follow the lxx (οὐκ ὄψεται ὁ Θεὸς ὁδοὺς ἡμῶν) and refer the seeing to God. God will not see their end, i.e., will not trouble Himself about it (Schnur., Ros., and others), or will not pay any heed to their future fate, so that they may do all they choose unpunished (Ew.). But to this Graf has justly objected, that ראה, in all the passages that can be cited for this sense of the word, is used only of that which God sees, regards as already present, never of that which is future. "He sees" is to be referred to the prophet. Of him the ungodly say, he shall not see their end, because they intend to put him out of the way (Hitz.); or better, in a less special sense, they ridicule the idea that his prophecies will be fulfilled, and say: He shall not see our end, because his threatenings will not come to pass.

Jer 12:5-6

In Jer 12:5 and Jer 12:6 the Lord so answers the prophet's complaint as to reprove his impatience, by intimating that he will have to endure still worse. Both parts of Jer 12:5 are of the nature of proverbs. If even the race with footmen made him weary, how will he be able to compete with horses? תּחרה here and Jer 22:15, a Tiph., Aramaic form for Hiph., arising by the hardening of the ה into ת-cf. Hos 11:3, and Ew. 122, a - rival, vie with. The proverb exhibits the contrast between tasks of smaller and greater difficulty, applied to the prophet's relation to his enemies. What Jeremiah had to suffer from his countrymen at Anathoth was but a trifle compared with the malign assaults that yet awaited him in the discharge of his office. The second comparison conveys the same thought, but with a clearer intimation of the dangers the prophet will undergo. If thou puttest thy trust in a peaceful land, there alone countest on living in peace and safety, how wilt thou bear thyself in the glory of Jordan? The latter phrase does not mean the swelling of Jordan, its high flood, so as that we should with Umbr. and Ew., have here to think of the danger arising from a great and sudden inundation. It is the strip of land along the bank of the Jordan, thickly overgrown with shrubs, trees, and tall reeds, the lower valley, flooded when the river was swollen, where lions had their haunt, as in the reedy thickets of the Euphrates. Cf. v. Schubert, Resie, iii. S. 82; Robins. Bibl. Researches in Palestine, i. 535, and Phys. Geogr. of the Holy Land, p. 147. The "pride of the Jordan" is therefore mentioned in Jer 49:19; Jer 50:44; Zac 11:3, as the haunt of lions, and comes before us here as a region where men's lives were in danger. The point of the comparison is accordingly this: Thy case up till this time is, in spite of the onsets thou hast borne, to be compared to a sojourn in a peaceful land; but thou shalt come into much sorer case, where thou shalt never for a moment be sure of thy life. To illustrate this, he is told in Jer 12:6 that his nearest of kin, and those dwelling under the same roof, will behave unfaithfully towards him. They will cry behind him מלא, plena voce (Jerome; cf. קראוּ מלאוּ, Jer 4:5). They will cry after him, "as one cries when pursuing a thief or murderer" (Gr.). Perfectly apposite is therefore Luther's translation: They set up a hue and cry after thee. These words are not meant to be literally taken, but convey the thought, that even his nearest friends will persecute him as a malefactor. It is therefore a perverse design that seeks to find the distinction between the inhabitants of Anathoth and the brethren and housemates, in a contrast between the priests and the blood-relations. Although Anathoth was a city of the priests, the men of Anathoth need not have been all priests, since these cities were not exclusively occupied by priests. - In this reproof of the prophet there lies not merely the truth that much sorer suffering yet awaits him, but the truth besides, that the people's faithlessness and wickedness towards God and men will yet grow greater, ere the judgment of destruction fall upon Judah; for the divine long-suffering is not yet exhausted, nor has ungodliness yet fairly reached its highest point, so that the final destruction must straightway be carried out. But judgment will not tarry long. This thought is carried on in what follows.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Talk with thee - Not by way of accusing thee, but for my own satisfaction concerning thy judicial dispensations in the government of the world. Wherefore - I know thy ways are just and righteous, but they are dark; I cannot understand why thou doest this.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee - The prophet was grieved at the prosperity of the wicked; and he wonders how, consistently with God's righteousness, vice should often be in affluence, and piety in suffering and poverty. He knows that God is righteous, that every thing is done well; but he wishes to inquire how these apparently unequal and undeserved lots take place. On this subject he wishes to reason with God, that he may receive instruction.

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¹⁵ And now we call [0833] the proud [02086] happy [0833]; yea, they that work [06213] wickedness [07564] are set up [01129]; yea, they that tempt [0974] God [0430] are even delivered [04422].

³ For I was envious [07065] at the foolish [01984], when I saw [07200] the prosperity [07965] of the wicked [07563].

³⁵ I have seen [07200] the wicked [07563] in great power [06184], and spreading [06168] himself like a green [07488] bay tree [0249].

¹ A Psalm of David [01732]. Fret [02734] not thyself because of evildoers [07489], neither be thou envious [07065] against the workers [06213] of iniquity [05766].

⁷ Wherefore do the wicked [07563] live [02421], become old [06275], yea, are mighty [01396] in power [02428]?

⁶ The tabernacles [0168] of robbers [07703] prosper [07951], and they that provoke [07264] God [0410] are secure [0987]; into whose hand [03027] God [0433] bringeth [0935] abundantly.

⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned [02398], and done [06213] this evil [07451] in thy sight [05869]: that thou mightest be justified [06663] when thou speakest [01696], and be clear [02135] when thou judgest [08199].

⁷ Wherefore do the wicked [07563] live [02421], become old [06275], yea, are mighty [01396] in power [02428]?

⁵ Declare [05046] ye in Judah [03063], and publish [08085] in Jerusalem [03389]; and say [0559], Blow [08628] ye the trumpet [07782] in the land [0776]: cry [07121], gather together [04390], and say [0559], Assemble [0622] yourselves, and let us go [0935] into the defenced [04013] cities [05892].

⁶ For even thy brethren [0251], and the house [01004] of thy father [01], even they have dealt treacherously [0898] with thee; yea, they have called [07121] a multitude [04392] after [0310] thee: believe [0539] them not, though they speak [01696] fair words [02896] unto thee.

³ There is a voice [06963] of the howling [03215] of the shepherds [07462]; for their glory [0155] is spoiled [07703]: a voice [06963] of the roaring [07581] of young lions [03715]; for the pride [01347] of Jordan [03383] is spoiled [07703].

⁴⁴ Behold, he shall come up [05927] like a lion [0738] from the swelling [01347] of Jordan [03383] unto the habitation [05116] of the strong [0386]: but I will make [07323] them suddenly [07280] run away [07323] [07323] from her: and who is a chosen [0977] man, that I may appoint [06485] over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time [03259]? and who is that shepherd [07462] that will stand [05975] before [06440] me?

¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up [05927] like a lion [0738] from the swelling [01347] of Jordan [03383] against the habitation [05116] of the strong [0386]: but I will suddenly [07280] make him run away [07323] from her: and who is a chosen [0977] man, that I may appoint [06485] over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time [03259]? and who is that shepherd [07462] that will stand [05975] before [06440] me?

³ I taught [08637] Ephraim [0669] also to go [08637], taking [03947] them by their arms [02220]; but they knew [03045] not that I healed [07495] them.

¹⁵ Shalt thou reign [04427], because thou closest [08474] thyself in cedar [0730]? did not thy father [01] eat [0398] and drink [08354], and do [06213] judgment [04941] and justice [06666], and then it was well [02896] with him?

⁵ If thou hast run [07323] with the footmen [07273], and they have wearied [03811] thee, then how canst thou contend [08474] with horses [05483]? and if in the land [0776] of peace [07965], wherein thou trustedst [0982], they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do [06213] in the swelling [01347] of Jordan [03383]?
⁶ For even thy brethren [0251], and the house [01004] of thy father [01], even they have dealt treacherously [0898] with thee; yea, they have called [07121] a multitude [04392] after [0310] thee: believe [0539] them not, though they speak [01696] fair words [02896] unto thee.

²⁰ The beasts [0929] of the field [07704] cry [06165] also unto thee: for the rivers [0650] of waters [04325] are dried up [03001], and the fire [0784] hath devoured [0398] the pastures [04999] of the wilderness [04057].

² Judah [03063] mourneth [056], and the gates [08179] thereof languish [0535]; they are black [06937] unto the ground [0776]; and the cry [06682] of Jerusalem [03389] is gone up [05927].

²⁴ Neither say [0559] they in their heart [03824], Let us now fear [03372] the LORD [03068] our God [0430], that giveth [05414] rain [01653], both the former [03138] and the latter [04456], in his season [06256]: he reserveth [08104] unto us the appointed [02708] weeks [07620] of the harvest [07105].

³ Therefore the showers [07241] have been withholden [04513], and there hath been no latter rain [04456]; and thou hadst a whore's [02181] [0802] forehead [04696], thou refusedst [03985] to be ashamed [03637].

³ But thou, O LORD [03068], knowest [03045] me: thou hast seen [07200] me, and tried [0974] mine heart [03820] toward thee: pull them out [05423] like sheep [06629] for the slaughter [02878], and prepare [06942] them for the day [03117] of slaughter [02028].

⁴ How long shall the land [0776] mourn [056], and the herbs [06212] of every field [07704] wither [03001], for the wickedness [07451] of them that dwell [03427] therein? the beasts [0929] are consumed [05595], and the birds [05775]; because they said [0559], He shall not see [07200] our last end [0319].

² Thou hast planted [05193] them, yea, they have taken root [08327]: they grow [03212], yea, they bring forth [06213] fruit [06529]: thou art near [07138] in their mouth [06310], and far from [07350] their reins [03629].

⁹ Say [0559] thou, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Shall it prosper [06743]? shall he not pull up [05423] the roots [08328] thereof, and cut off [07082] the fruit [06529] thereof, that it wither [03001]? it shall wither [03001] in all the leaves [02964] of her spring [06780], even without great [01419] power [02220] or many [07227] people [05971] to pluck it up [05375] by the roots [08328] thereof.

¹⁷ And Absalom [053] said [0559] to Hushai [02365], Is this thy kindness [02617] to thy friend [07453]? why wentest [01980] thou not with thy friend [07453]?

⁷ Wherefore do the wicked [07563] live [02421], become old [06275], yea, are mighty [01396] in power [02428]?

² I know [03045] it is so of a truth [0551]: but how should man [0582] be just [06663] with God [0410]?

⁶ Behold, thou desirest [02654] truth [0571] in the inward parts [02910]: and in the hidden [05640] part thou shalt make me to know [03045] wisdom [02451].

¹ Righteous [06662] art thou, O LORD [03068], when I plead [07378] with thee: yet let me talk [01696] with thee of thy judgments [04941]: Wherefore doth the way [01870] of the wicked [07563] prosper [06743]? wherefore are all they happy [07951] that deal very [0899] treacherously [0898]?
² Thou hast planted [05193] them, yea, they have taken root [08327]: they grow [03212], yea, they bring forth [06213] fruit [06529]: thou art near [07138] in their mouth [06310], and far from [07350] their reins [03629].
³ But thou, O LORD [03068], knowest [03045] me: thou hast seen [07200] me, and tried [0974] mine heart [03820] toward thee: pull them out [05423] like sheep [06629] for the slaughter [02878], and prepare [06942] them for the day [03117] of slaughter [02028].
⁴ How long shall the land [0776] mourn [056], and the herbs [06212] of every field [07704] wither [03001], for the wickedness [07451] of them that dwell [03427] therein? the beasts [0929] are consumed [05595], and the birds [05775]; because they said [0559], He shall not see [07200] our last end [0319].