Jeremiah 12:2
◄  Jeremiah 12:2  ►
New International Version (©2011)
You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.

New Living Translation (©2007)
You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts.

English Standard Version (©2001)
You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
You have planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips But far from their mind.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
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.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience.

International Standard Version (©2012)
You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. "You are near to us," they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you're far from their hearts.

NET Bible (©2006)
You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
You plant them, and they take root. They grow, and they produce fruit. They speak well of you with their lips, but their hearts are far from you.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
You have planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.

American King James Version
You have planted them, yes, they have taken root: they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

American Standard Version
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 heart.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

Darby Bible Translation
Thou hast planted them, they also have taken root: they advance, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins.

English Revised Version
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou hast planted them, yes, they have taken root: they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

World English Bible
You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.

Young's Literal Translation
Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root, They go on, yea, they have made fruit, Near art Thou in their mouth, And far off from their reins.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-6 When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we find it hard to understand any of his dealings with us, or others, we must look to general truths as our first principles, and abide by them: the Lord is righteous. The God with whom we have to do, knows how our hearts are toward him. He knows both the guile of the hypocrite and the sincerity of the upright. Divine judgments would pull the wicked out of their pasture as sheep for the slaughter. This fruitful land was turned into barrenness for the wickedness of those that dwelt therein. The Lord reproved the prophet. The opposition of the men of Anathoth was not so formidable as what he must expect from the rulers of Judah. Our grief that there should be so much evil is often mixed with peevishness on account of the trials it occasions us. And in this our favoured day, and under our trifling difficulties, let us consider how we should behave, if called to sufferings like those of saints in former ages.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - Far from their reins; i.e. from their heart (the seat of strong impulses and desires); comp. Psalm 16:7; Psalm 26:2.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou hast planted them,.... In the land of Canaan, fixed the bounds of their habitation, given them a firm and comfortable settlement; for all the good things, even of the wicked, come from God:

yea, they have taken root; as everything that is planted does not; but these did, though it was downwards in the earth, on which their hearts were set, and so were strengthened and established in their worldly circumstances:

they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit; but to themselves, not to God; not fruits of righteousness or good works; they grow, not in grace and holiness, but in their worldly substance; and they brought forth fruit, not such as were meet for repentance, but they had great riches, and numerous families; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions, "they produce children, and bring forth fruit." The Targum is,

"they become rich, yea, they possess substance.''

Thou art near in their mouth; they often made use of the name of God, either in swearing by it, or praying to him in an external manner; they called themselves the Lord's people, and boasted of being his priests, and employed in his service; they took his covenant, and the words of his law, into their mouths, and taught them the people, and yet had no sincere regard for these things:

and far from their reins; from the affections of their hearts, and the desires of their souls; they had no true love for God, nor fear of him, nor faith in him. The Targum is,

"near are the words of thy law in their mouth, and far is thy fear from their reins.''

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. grow—literally, "go on," "progress." Thou givest them sure dwellings and increasing prosperity.

near in … mouth … far from … reins—(Isa 29:13; Mt 15:8). Hypocrites.

Jeremiah 12:2 Parallel Commentaries

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The Prosperity of the Wicked
1Righteous are you, O LORD, when I plead with you: yet let me talk with you of your judgments: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2You have planted them, yes, they have taken root: they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 3But you, O LORD, know me: you have seen me, and tried my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

Titus 1:16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Job 5:3 I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
Psalm 37:35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,
Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Jeremiah 3:10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 11:17 The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal.
Jeremiah 45:4 But the LORD has told me to say to you, 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth.
Ezekiel 17:5 "'He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water,
Ezekiel 33:31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.
Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?