Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah 12
1-4 Jeremiah Complains to God
1 I know you'll win this argument, LORD, but tell me this: Why do the guilty prosper?
2 You plant them, and they thrive. They're hypocrites, speaking of you but not listening to you.
3 You know my heart is with you; get rid of them, LORD!
4 How long will the land suffer because the wicked continue, thinking you are blind to what they are doing?

5-17 God Replies to Jeremiah
5 “If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?" What a great passage! Don't think I've heard this one before. In the exercise world it would be called conditioning, as in "Sportsmen and women must put their bodies under a certain amount of stress (overload) to increase physical capabilities."
6 Even your own family has betrayed you; don't be fooled by their friendly words.
7-9 I have forsaken my heritage, have given the beloved of my heart to her enemies, because she has cried against me.
10-13 My shepherds have destroyed the land, making it desolate. The LORD will devour the land, and they will be ashamed of the harvest.
14-15 I will pluck my people out of their land, but later I will have compassion and bring them back.
16-17 Then if they listen, I will build them up. But I will completely uproot and destroy any nation that does not listen.