UBF Daily Bread

IF THEY LEARN THE WAYS OF MY PEOPLE

Passage: Jeremiah 11:18~12:17

Key verse: 12:16

Plot Against Jeremiah

¹⁸Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. ¹⁹I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;^(A) I did not realize that they had plotted^(B) against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree and its fruit;
    let us cut him off from the land of the living,^(C)
    that his name be remembered^(D) no more.”
²⁰But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously^(E)
    and test the heart^(F) and mind,^(G)
let me see your vengeance^(H) on them,
    for to you I have committed my cause.

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth^(I) who are threatening to kill you,^(J) saying, “Do not prophesy^(K) in the name of the Lord or you will die^(L) by our hands”— ²²therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men^(M) will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. ²³Not even a remnant^(N) will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.^(O)”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,^(P) Lord,
    when I bring a case^(Q) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:^(R)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?^(S)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
²You have planted^(T) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.^(U)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.^(V)
³Yet you know me, Lord;
    you see me and test^(W) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep^(X) to be butchered!
    Set them apart for the day of slaughter!^(Y)
⁴How long will the land lie parched^(Z)
    and the grass in every field be withered?^(AA)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
    the animals and birds have perished.^(AB)
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 stumble^[a] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets^(AC) by^[b] the Jordan?
⁶Your relatives, members of your own family—
    even they have betrayed you;
    they have raised a loud cry against you.^(AD)
Do not trust them,
    though they speak well of you.^(AE)

⁷“I will forsake^(AF) my house,
    abandon^(AG) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love^(AH)
    into the hands of her enemies.^(AI)
⁸My inheritance has become to me
    like a lion^(AJ) in the forest.
She roars at me;
    therefore I hate her.^(AK)
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.^(AL)
¹⁰Many shepherds^(AM) will ruin my vineyard
    and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
    into a desolate wasteland.^(AN)
¹¹It will be made a wasteland,^(AO)
    parched and desolate before me;^(AP)
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^(AQ) of the Lord^(AR) will devour^(AS)
    from one end of the land to the other;^(AT)
    no one will be safe.^(AU)
¹³They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
    they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.^(AV)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
    because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”^(AW)

¹⁴This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance^(AX) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot^(AY) them from their lands and I will uproot^(AZ) the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion^(BA) and will bring^(BB) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. ¹⁶And if they learn^(BC) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’^(BD)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal^(BE)—then they will be established among my people.^(BF) ¹⁷But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy^(BG) it,” declares the Lord.

Footnotes

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

Cross references

Jeremiah 11:19 : S Ps 44:22
Jeremiah 11:19 : ver 21; S Ps 44:16; 54:3; 71:10; Jer 18:18; 20:10
Jeremiah 11:19 : S Job 28:13; S Ps 116:9; Isa 53:8
Jeremiah 11:19 : Ps 83:4
Jeremiah 11:20 : Ps 7:11
Jeremiah 11:20 : S 1Sa 2:3; S 1Ch 29:17
Jeremiah 11:20 : S Ps 26:2
Jeremiah 11:20 : S Ps 58:10; La 3:60
Jeremiah 11:21 : S Jos 21:18
Jeremiah 11:21 : S ver 19; Jer 12:6; 21:7; 34:20
Jeremiah 11:21 : S Isa 30:10
Jeremiah 11:21 : Jer 2:30; 18:23; 26:8, 11; 38:4
Jeremiah 11:22 : S Isa 9:17; Jer 18:21
Jeremiah 11:23 : Jer 6:9
Jeremiah 11:23 : Jer 23:12
Jeremiah 12:1 : S Ezr 9:15; Job 8:3; Da 9:14
Jeremiah 12:1 : S Job 5:8
Jeremiah 12:1 : Eze 18:25
Jeremiah 12:1 : S Job 21:7, 13; Ps 37:7; Jer 5:27-28
Jeremiah 12:2 : S Jer 11:17
Jeremiah 12:2 : S Job 5:3
Jeremiah 12:2 : S Isa 29:13; S Jer 3:10; S Eze 22:27; Mt 15:8; Mk 7:6; Tit 1:16
Jeremiah 12:3 : Ps 7:9; 11:5; 139:1-4
Jeremiah 12:3 : S Ps 44:11
Jeremiah 12:3 : Jer 16:18; 17:18; 20:11
Jeremiah 12:4 : S Jer 4:28
Jeremiah 12:4 : S ver 11; S Jer 4:26; Joel 1:10-12; Am 1:2
Jeremiah 12:4 : Dt 28:15-18; S Jer 4:25; S 9:10
Jeremiah 12:5 : Jer 49:19; 50:44
Jeremiah 12:6 : S Pr 26:24-25; Jer 9:4
Jeremiah 12:6 : Ps 12:2
Jeremiah 12:7 : S 2Ki 21:14
Jeremiah 12:7 : S Jer 7:29
Jeremiah 12:7 : Isa 5:1
Jeremiah 12:7 : Jer 17:4
Jeremiah 12:8 : S Ps 17:12
Jeremiah 12:8 : Ps 5:5; Hos 9:15; Am 6:8
Jeremiah 12:9 : S Dt 28:26; Isa 56:9; Jer 15:3; Eze 23:25; 39:17-20
Jeremiah 12:10 : Jer 23:1; 25:34; Eze 34:2-10
Jeremiah 12:10 : Isa 5:1-7; Jer 9:10; 25:11
Jeremiah 12:11 : S Isa 5:6; S 24:4
Jeremiah 12:11 : ver 4; Jer 9:12; 14:4; 23:10
Jeremiah 12:12 : Eze 21:3-4
Jeremiah 12:12 : S Dt 32:41; Isa 31:8; Jer 46:10; 47:6; Eze 14:17; 21:28; 33:2
Jeremiah 12:12 : S Dt 32:42
Jeremiah 12:12 : Jer 3:2
Jeremiah 12:12 : Jer 7:10
Jeremiah 12:13 : S Lev 26:20; S Dt 28:38
Jeremiah 12:13 : S Ex 15:7; S Jer 4:26
Jeremiah 12:14 : S Dt 29:28; S 2Ch 7:20
Jeremiah 12:14 : S Ps 9:6; Zec 2:7-9
Jeremiah 12:14 : S Dt 28:63
Jeremiah 12:15 : S Ps 6:2
Jeremiah 12:15 : S Dt 30:3; Am 9:14-15
Jeremiah 12:16 : Jer 18:8
Jeremiah 12:16 : S Jer 4:2
Jeremiah 12:16 : S Jos 23:7
Jeremiah 12:16 : S Isa 26:18; 49:6; Jer 3:17
Jeremiah 12:17 : S Ge 27:29

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

1. A plot against Jeremiah (11:18-23)

Jeremiah's own hometown people of Anathoth plotted against him, since they didn't like his judgmental message. But God would punish them with disaster. Jeremiah was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. But God would protect him and bring judgment on his attackers.

2. Jeremiah's complaint and God's answer (12:1-17)

Jeremiah complained that the wicked prosper. God told him not to trust even his family members. Destroyers would swarm, desolation would come and the sword of the Lord would devour. God would uproot wicked neighbors. God would uproot Judah. But after that, he would again have compassion and bring them back to their inheritance. God wants all people to trust him, the living Lord.

Prayer: Lord, let me learn well your ways and trust you.

One Word: The Lord will again have compassion

Daily Bread Data Base

Jeremiah 11:1~23

A BROKEN COVENANT , 01/01 /2000
Jeremiah 11:1~17

THEY HAVE BROKEN THE COVENANT , 04/24 /2018
Jeremiah 11:18~12:17

IF THEY LEARN THE WAYS OF MY PEOPLE , 04/25 /2018
Jeremiah 11:1~17

LISTEN TO THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT , 10/27 /2023
Jeremiah 11:18~12:1-17

JEREMIAH STRUGGLES WITH PERSECUTION , 10/28 /2023

Bible Resource Data Base

Jeremiah 1:1~52:14

Jeremiah, Sarah Barry
Jeremiah 1:1~52:34

The Lord Establishes, LA UBF

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