You are righteous, O Jehovah, When I plead my cause with You; Yet I will speak with You of Your judgments: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those who deal treacherously at ease?

You have planted them; they have also taken root; They go on and bring forth fruit. You are near, in their mouth, But far from their inward parts.

And You, O Jehovah, know me; You see me And try my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaying, And set them apart for the day of slaughter.

How long will the land mourn And the grass of every field dry up? Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it, Beasts and birds are swept away, Because they said, He will not see our end.

If you have run with footmen and they have wearied you, How then will you compete with horses? If you are secure in a land of peace, How then will you do in the majesty of the Jordan?

For even your brothers and the house of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you; Even they have cried aloud after you. Do not believe them, although they speak good things to you.

I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.

My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She lifted up her voice against Me, Therefore I hated her.

Is My inheritance a speckled bird of prey to Me? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; Bring them to devour.

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; They have trampled down My portion; They have made My pleasant portion A desolate wilderness.

They have made it a desolation; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land has been desolated Because no one lays it to heart.

Upon all the bare heights in the wilderness Destroyers have come, For the sword of Jehovah devours From one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh has peace.

They have sown wheat, and they reap thorns; They have worn themselves out, but they profit nothing; Therefore be ashamed of your produce Because of the burning anger of Jehovah.

Thus says Jehovah concerning all My evil neighbors, who have touched the inheritance which I caused My people Israel to inherit, I am about to pluck them up out of their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah out from their midst.

And after I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them and bring them again, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.

And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, saying, As Jehovah lives, even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people.

But if they do not listen, I will pluck up that nation, plucking it up and destroying it, declares Jehovah.