< Jeremias 17 >

1 Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and will lean his arm of flesh upon him, while his heart departs from the Lord.
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
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While their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
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O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.
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And thou, even thyself, shall discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in my anger, which shall burn for ever.
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Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
6 And he shall be as the wild tamarisk in the desert: he shall not see when good comes; but he shall dwell in barren [places], and in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited.
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord shall be.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
8 And he shall be as a thriving tree by the waters, and he shall cast forth his root towards a moist place: he shall not fear when heat comes, and there shall be upon him shady branches: he shall not fear in a year of drought, and he shall not fail to bear fruit.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deep beyond all things, and it is the man, and who can know him?
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the Lord try the hearts, and prove the reins, to give to every one according to his ways, and according to the fruits of his devices.
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
11 The partridge utters her voice, she gathers [eggs] which she did not lay; [so is a man] gaining his wealth unjustly; in the midst of his days [his riches] shall leave him, and at his latter end he will be a fool.
As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
12 An exalted throne of glory is our sanctuary.
A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, let all that have left you be ashamed, let them that have revolted be written on the earth, because they have forsaken the fountain of life, the Lord.
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for you are my boast.
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15 Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come.
Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.
16 But I have not been weary of following you, nor have I desired the day of man; you know; the [words] that proceed out of my lips are before your face.
As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which was uttered by my lips was right before thee.
17 Be not to me a stranger, [but] spare me in the evil day.
Be not a terror to me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
18 Let them that persecute me be ashamed, but let me not be ashamed: let them be alarmed, but let me not be alarmed: bring upon them the evil day, crush them with double destruction.
Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
19 Thus says the Lord; Go and stand in the gates of the children of your people, by which the kings of Juda enter, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem:
Thus said the LORD to me; Go and stand in the gate of the children 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 you shall say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Juda, and all Judea, and all Jerusalem, [all] who go in at these gates:
And say to them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter by these gates:
21 thus says the Lord; Take heed to your souls, and take up no burdens on the sabbath-day, and go not forth [through] the gates of Jerusalem;
Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
22 and carry forth no burdens out of your houses on the sabbath-day, and you shall do no work: sanctify the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers.
Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
23 But they listened not, and inclined not their ear, but stiffened their neck more than their fathers [did], so as not to hear me, and not to receive correction.
But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
24 And it shall come to pass, if you will listen to me, says the Lord, to carry in no burdens through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, and to sanctify the sabbath-day, so as to do no work [upon it],
And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken to me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work in it;
25 that there shall enter through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, and riding on their chariots and horses, they, and their princes, the men of Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited for ever.
Then shall there enter into 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 remain for ever.
26 And [men] shall come out of the cities of Juda, and from round about Jerusalem, and out of the land of Benjamin, and out of the plain country, and from the hill country, and from the south [country], bringing whole burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and incense, and manna, and frankincense, bringing praise to the house of the Lord.
And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, to the house of the LORD.
27 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to me to sanctify the sabbath-day, to bear no burdens, nor go in [with them by] the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the streets of Jerusalem, and shall not be quenched.
But if ye will not hearken to me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering 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.

< Jeremias 17 >