Jeremiah 17

1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars,

2 while their sons remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees upon the high hills.

3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures for a spoil, and thy high places, because of sin, throughout all thy borders.

4 And thou, even of thyself, shall discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee, and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou know not. For ye have kindled a fire in my anger which shall burn forever.

5 Thus says Jehovah: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Jehovah.

6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

7 Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green, and shall not be worried in the year of drought, nor shall cease from yielding fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?

10 I, Jehovah, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

11 As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right. In the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.

12 A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be put to shame. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters.

14 Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved, for thou are my praise.

15 Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of Jehovah? Let it come now.

16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee, nor have I desired the woeful day. Thou know. That which came out of my lips was before thy face.

17 Be not a terror to me. Thou are my refuge in the day of evil.

18 Let them be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame. Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

19 Thus Jehovah said to me, Go, and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

20 And say to them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter in by these gates.

21 Thus says Jehovah: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, nor do ye any work. But hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

23 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.

24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken to me, says Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work in it,

25 then there shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and rulers sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their rulers, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall remain forever.

26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing things of thanksgiving, to the house of Jehovah.

27 But if ye will not hearken to me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in the gates of it, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.