1 Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
3 But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
14 Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.
<html><b>You are right, O Lord, when I contend with You</b> When I debate with You, I know that you will be right in Your words, but I wish to argue with You so that You will let me know Your way. <b>Why has the way of the wicked prospered?</b> That You have given greatness to Nebuchadnezzar the wicked, and you have made him succeed in destroying Your house? Another explanation is that he was crying and complaining about the men of Anathoth. <b>have peace</b> Heb. שלו, an expression of שלוה, peace.</html>
<html><b>But You, O Lord, have known me</b> Also, concerning the men of Anathoth You have aided me, for You have known me. <b>Draw them out like sheep to the slaughter</b> Draw them out of life to death (detache les in French, separate them, cut them off). Comp. (Joshua 8:6) “until we have drawn (התיקנו) them from the city.” <b>and prepare them</b> Heb. הקדישם, prepare them.</html>
<html><b>How long will the land mourn and the grass of all the field dry out?</b> Up to here are the prophet’s words, and the Holy Spirit replies to him, “Because of the evil of its inhabitants, beasts and fowl are ended.” <b>will…mourn</b> Be waste. <b>ended</b> (finira in French, will terminate). <b>for they said</b> i.e., the inhabitants of this land have said. <b>“He will not see our end.”</b> It is not revealed to Him what will be at our end.</html>
<html><b>For if you have run with foot men and they wearied you</b> Your kin, the priests like you and the men of your city come to kill you. <b>with footmen</b> Heb. רגלים (pieton in O.F), pedestrian. <b>how will you compete with horses</b> To run with the horses. That is to say, If even your brethren the priests come to kill you, surely the princes of Judah will rise up against you to kill you. This is the reason for My anger against them, and this is the reason for the success of the enemy. And so did Jonathan render: This is the reply, etc. And, according to the Midrash of our Rabbis (Sanhedrin 96a): If you are amazed about the reward for the three steps that Nebuchadnezzar ran in My honor in the days of Merodach-baladan, why I gave him so much greatness, how much more will you be amazed when you see the payment of reward that I will pay the righteous who ran before Me like horses! <b>will you compete</b> (aastir in O.F.). <b>and in the peaceful land that you trust</b> there they wearied you. <b>how will you do in the heights</b> The princes of Judah. The pride of the Jordan is symbolic since it is a place of lions and tigers, and Jonathan taught us this in many places. And here he paraphrased. And how do you expect to do against the wild beasts that are on the height of the Jordan? “And behold, as a lion ascends from the height of the Jordan,” Jonathan renders in two places (infra 49:19, 50:44): like a lion that ascends from the height of the Jordan.</html>
<html><b>have called a gang after you</b> Heb. מלא, a group of men.</html>
<html><b>My soul’s beloved</b> My treasured people.</html>
<html><b>she raised her voice against Me</b> The cry of her violent deeds has ascended before Me.</html>
<html><b>Is…a speckled bird of prey?</b> The ‘heh’ is that of the interrogative. Therefore, it is vowelized with a ‘pattah.’ Are they like a speckled bird of prey, stained with blood, around which other birds gather? Another explanation: <b>Is…a speckled bird of prey</b> One bird is speckled, and all the birds gather around it to eat it because they hate it. <b>Are there birds of prey around her?</b> Are these armies fowl of the heavens, the swift troops that are around her?</html>
<html><b>Many shepherds</b> The commanders of the troops of Nebuchadnezzar’s army, as it is stated above (6:3): “Shepherds and their flocks shall come to her.” <b>they have trampled</b> Heb. בססו, an expression of trampling. Cf. (Zech. 10:5) “And they shall be like mighty men trampling (בוסים) the mire of the streets.” <b>My field</b> Heb. חלקתי, (campagne in French), countryside.</html>
<html><b>the wasted one mourns before Me</b> Heb. עלי, lit. on Me.</html>
<html><b>They sowed wheat, but they reaped thorns</b> They prayed, but their prayer was not accepted. Why? Because they did not plow for themselves a furrow of repentance and good deeds. Therefore, they sowed seeds resulting in thorns. A book in which זרעו is vowelized with a ‘chirik’ under the ‘zayin,’ is erroneous. <b>they have become ill</b> Heb. נחלו, an expression of illness. They have become ill with their pain and their cry before Me, but they did not avail. <b>of your increase</b> Of your deeds.</html>
<html><b>My wicked neighbors</b> Egypt, Ammon and Moab, Tyre and Sidon, who were neighbors of Eretz Israel and were inflicting harm upon them.</html>
<html><b>I will return and have pity on them</b> They all suffered close to the destruction of the Temple, and concerning each one it is stated in this Book, “I will return the exile of…”</html>
<html><b>if they learn</b> If they proselytize. <b>they shall be built up</b> an expression of building.</html>