Lord, if I argue with you, you are always right. But I want to ask you about some things that don't seem right. Why are wicked people successful? Why do people you cannot trust have such easy lives?
You have put these wicked people here like plants with strong roots. They grow and produce fruit. With their mouths they say that you are near and dear to them, but in their hearts they are really far away from you.
How much longer will the land be dry? How long will the grass be dry and dead? The birds and the animals of this land have all died, and it is the fault of the wicked. Yet they are saying, "Jeremiah will not live long enough to see what happens to us."
"Jeremiah, if you get tired running in a footrace with men, how will you race against horses? If you get tired in a safe place, what will you do in a dangerous place? What will you do in the thornbushes that grow along the Jordan River?
These men are your own brothers. Members of your own family are making plans against you. People from your own family are shouting at you. Don't trust them, even when they speak to you like friends.
My own people have become like a dying animal surrounded by vultures. These birds are circling around her. Come on, wild animals. Come get something to eat.
The empty hills are covered with soldiers who have come to destroy everything. The Lord is using them to punish that land from one end to the other. No one is safe.
The people will plant wheat, but they will harvest only thorns. They will work hard until they are very tired, but they will get nothing for all their work. They will be ashamed of their crop. The Lord's anger caused this."
This is what the Lord says: "I will tell you what I will do for all those who live around the land of Israel. They are very wicked. They have destroyed the land I gave to the people of Israel. I will pull the evil people up and throw them out of their land, and I will pull the people of Judah up with them.
I want these people to learn their lessons well. In the past they taught my people to use Baal's name to make promises. Now, I want them to learn to use my name. I want them to say, 'As the Lord lives —.' If they do that, I will allow them to be successful, and I will let them live among my people.