Jeremiah 17

1 “The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.

The sin of Judah is written down with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond: it is engraved upon the table of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.

2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.

Like their remembrance of their children, so are [to them] their altars and their groves by [every] green tree upon the high hills.

3 O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.

O my mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures will I give up for spoil, thy high-places [reared] with sin, throughout all thy borders.

4 And you yourself will relinquish the inheritance that I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land that you do not know, for you have kindled My anger; it will burn forever.”

And thou shalt be cast out, yea through thy own guilt, from thy heritage which I have given thee; and I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in my anger, for ever shall it burn.

5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.

Thus hath said the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and placeth on flesh his dependence, while from the Lord his heart departeth.

6 He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

And he shall be like a lonely tree in the desert, which feeleth not when the good cometh; but abideth in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salty land which cannot be inhabited.

7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord will be his trust.

8 He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

And he shall be like a tree that is planted by the waters, and by a stream spreadeth out its roots, which feeleth not when heat cometh, but its leaf remaineth green; and in a year of drought it is undisturbed by care, and ceaseth not from yielding fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Deceitful is the heart above all things, and sick: who can know it?

10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

I the Lord search the heart, probe the reins: yea, to give unto every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.

11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”

As a cuckoo that sitteth on eggs which he hath not laid, so is he that get the riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be called wicked.

12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.

A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary!

13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.

Hope of Israel, O Lord, all that forsake thee shall be made ashamed, and the backsliders among me shall be written down on the earth; because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, the Lord.

14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved; for my praise art thou.

15 Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”

Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.

16 But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.

As for me, I have not hastened to be a shepherd to follow thee; and the woeful day have I not longed for; thou knowest it: what came out of my lips was known before thee.

17 Do not become a terror to me; You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

Be not a terror unto me: thou art my protection on the day of evil.

18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but do not let me be put to shame. Let them be terrified, but do not let me be terrified. Bring upon them the day of disaster and shatter them with double destruction.

Let those be made ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be made ashamed: let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and strike them with a double breach.

19 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; and stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem.

Thus said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah usually enter, and by which they usually go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, all people of Judah and Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates.

21 This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

Thus hath said the Lord, Take heed for your souls, and bear no burden on the sabbath-day, nor bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem;

22 You must not carry a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day, but you must keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers.

Nor shall you carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath-day, and no manner of work shall ye do, but hallow ye the sabbath-day, as I have commanded your fathers;

23 Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.

But they hearkened not, and inclined not their ear; and they made their neck stiff, so as not to hearken, and not to receive instruction.

24 If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it,

And it shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, so as to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, and to hallow the sabbath-day, so as to do no work thereon:

25 then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, along with the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

Then shall there enter through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited for ever.

26 And people will come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the foothills, the hill country, and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.

And there shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands, and from the mountain, and from the south, those that bring burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and frankincense, and those that bring thanksgiving-offerings, unto the house of the Lord.

27 But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.’”

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