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 with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond, Graven on the tablet 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.

As their sons remember their altars and their shrines, By the green tree, by 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 strength, All thy treasures — for a prey I give, Thy high places for sin in 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 hast let go — even through thyself, Of thine inheritance that I gave to thee, And I have caused thee to serve thine enemies, In a land that thou hast not known, For a fire ye have kindled in Mine anger, Unto the age it doth 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 said Jehovah: Cursed [is] the man who doth trust in man, And hath made flesh his arm, And from Jehovah whose heart turneth.

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 hath been as a naked thing in a desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.

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

Blessed [is] the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

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 hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.

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

Crooked [is] the heart above all things, And it [is] incurable — who doth 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 Jehovah do search the heart, try the reins, Even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

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.”

A partridge hatching, and not bringing forth, [Is] one making wealth, and not by right, In the midst of his days he doth forsake it, And in his latter end — he is a fool.

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

A throne of honour on high from the beginning, 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.

The hope of Israel [is] Jehovah, All forsaking Thee are ashamed, And 'My apostates' in the earth are written, For they have forsaken Jehovah, A fountain of living waters.

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 Jehovah, and I am healed, Save me, and I am saved, for my praise [art] Thou.

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

Lo, they are saying unto me: 'Where [is] the word of Jehovah? pray, let it come.'

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.

And I hastened not from feeding after Thee, And the desperate day I have not desired, Thou — Thou hast known, The produce of my lips, before Thy face it hath been,

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

Be not Thou to me for a terror, My hope [art] Thou in a 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 my pursuers be ashamed, and let not me be ashamed — me! Let them be affrighted, and let not me be affrighted — me! Bring in on them a day of evil, And a second time [with] destruction destroy them.

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 Jehovah unto me: 'Go, and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all 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 thou hast said unto them: Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming 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 said Jehovah, Take ye heed to yourselves, And ye bear not a burden on the day of rest, Nor have ye brought [it] in by 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 do ye take out a burden from your houses on the day of rest, Yea, any work ye do not do, And ye have sanctified the day of rest, 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.

And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, 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 hath been, if ye certainly hearken unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, So as not to bring in a burden By the gates of this city on the day of rest, And to sanctify the day of rest, So as not to do in it any work —

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 entered by the gates of this city have kings and princes, Sitting on the throne of David, Riding in a chariot, and on horses, They, and their princes, the man of Judah, And inhabitants of Jerusalem, And this city hath remained to the age.

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 they have come in from cities of Judah, And from suburbs of Jerusalem, And from the land of Benjamin, And from the low country, And from the hill-country, and from the south, Bringing in burnt-offering, and sacrifice, And present, and frankincense, And bringing praise [to] the house of Jehovah.

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.’”

And if ye do not hearken unto me to sanctify the day of rest, And so as not to bear a burden, And to come in at the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest, Then I have kindled a fire in its gates, And it hath consumed the high places of Jerusalem, And it is not quenched!'