1You are righteous, O LORD, whenever I bring a case before you. Yet let me talk with you about your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those happy who act so treacherously?
2You have planted them, and they have taken root. They grow, and they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouth, but far from their inward parts.
3But you, O LORD, know me. You have seen me, and tested my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of killing.
4How long will the land mourn, and the plants of every field wither, because of the wickedness of those who live in it? The animals are swept away, and the birds too, because the people said, "He will not see what happens to us in the end."
5"If you have run with men on foot, and they have worn you out, how can you race against horses? And if you stumble in a peaceful land where you felt safe, what will you do in the thick growth beside the Jordan?"
6For even your brothers, and your own father's household, even they have dealt treacherously with you. Yes, they have called out a crowd behind you. Do not believe them, though they speak kind words to you.
7I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance. I have given the one my soul loves dearly into the hand of her enemies.
8My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. It roars against me, and so I have hated it.
9My inheritance is to me like a speckled bird; the birds all around are against her. Come, gather all the wild animals of the field, bring them to devour.
10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trampled my portion under foot. They have turned my pleasant portion into a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it desolate, and in its desolation it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, because no one takes it to heart.
12The destroyers have come on all the bare heights through the wilderness. The sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other end of the land. No one alive will have peace.
13"They have sown wheat, but they will reap thorns. They have worn themselves out, but they will gain nothing. You will be ashamed of your harvests, because of the fierce anger of the LORD."
14This is what the LORD says against all my evil neighbours, who touch the inheritance that I gave to my people Israel: "Look, I will pull them out of their land, and I will pull the house of Judah out from among them."
15And after I have pulled them out, I will return and have compassion on them. I will bring them back, each man to his inheritance, and each man to his land.
16And if they will carefully learn the ways of my people, and swear by my name, 'As the LORD lives,' just as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.
17"But if they will not obey, I will completely uproot and destroy that nation," says the LORD.