Jeremiah 17

1 The sin of Judah is inscribed with an iron stylus, engraved with an adamant point, on their minds and on corners of their altars where they worship.

“The sin of Judah has been written with a pen of iron and a point of diamond. It has been engraved upon the breadth of their heart and upon the horns of their shrines.

2 Even their children remember to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, set up by the green trees and on the high hills,

And their sons make a remembrance of their shrines, and their sacred groves, and their leafy trees on high mountains,

3 on my mountain in the fields. I will hand over your wealth and all your valuable possessions as plunder, because of the sin committed on your pagan high places inside your country.

by sacrificing in the field. And so, I will give over your strength and all your treasures to be despoiled, along with your exalted places of sin, within all your borders.

4 You will have to give up the land I gave you. I will have your enemies make you their slaves in an unfamiliar country for you made my anger blaze, and it will burn forever.

And you will be left behind without your inheritance, which I gave to you. And I will cause you to serve your enemies in a land that you do not know. For you have kindled a fire in my fury; it shall burn, even unto eternity.”

5 This is what the Lord says: Cursed are those who put their confidence in human beings, who trust in human strength and give up relying on the Lord.

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is a man who trusts in man, and who establishes what is flesh as his right arm, and whose heart withdraws from the Lord.

6 They will be like a shrub alone in the desert that isn't even aware when good things happen. It just goes on living in the dry desert, in a salt flat that's uninhabited.

For he will be like a saltcedar tree in the desert. And he will not perceive it, when what is good has arrived. Instead, he will live in dryness, in a desert, in a land of salt, which is uninhabitable.

7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, who put their confidence in him.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, for the Lord will be his confidence.

8 They are like trees planted by water, sending out roots toward the stream. They don't panic when it gets hot; their leaves are always green. They don't worry during a time of drought—they go on producing fruit.

And he will be like a tree planted beside waters, which sends out its roots to moist soil. And it will not fear when the heat arrives. And its leaves will be green. And in the time of drought, it will not be anxious, nor will it cease at any time to bear fruit.

9 The mind is more deceptive than anything else—it's incurably sick! Who can possibly understand it?

The heart is depraved above all things, and it is unsearchable, who can know it?

10 But I, the Lord, see what people are thinking. I examine their minds, so I can reward them depending on their attitudes and the way they behave.

I am the Lord, who examines the heart and tests the temperament, who gives to each one according to his way and according to the fruit of his own decisions.

11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it didn't lay is someone who makes a fortune by cheating others. Their riches will fly away at midday, and in the end they'll look like a fool.

A partridge has hatched eggs that she did not lay; a man has gathered riches, but without judgment. In the midst of his days, he will leave it all behind, and he will be foolish concerning his very end.”

12 Our Temple is a throne of glory, raised up high from the beginning.

“A high and glorious throne is the place of our sanctification from the beginning.

13 Lord, you are Israel's hope, anyone who deserts you will be disgraced. Anyone who turns their back on you will vanish like names written in the dust, for they have abandoned the Lord, the source of living water.

O Lord, Hope of Israel: all who forsake you will be confounded. Those who withdraw from you will be written into the earth. For they have abandoned the Lord, the Source of living waters.

14 Please heal me, Lord, and I'll be healed; save me, and I'll be saved, for you are the one I praise.

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For you are my praise.

15 See how they keep on saying to me, “Where is the disaster that the Lord's predicted? Is it ever going to happen?”

Behold, they themselves are saying to me: ‘Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come.’

16 But I haven't been in a hurry to give up being your shepherd. I haven't wanted the time of trouble to come. You know that whatever I said was said in front of you.

But I am not troubled; I am following you as my shepherd. And I have not desired the day of man, as you know. That which has gone forth from my lips has been right in your sight.

17 Please don't be the one who terrifies me! You are my protection in the time of trouble.

May you not be a dread to me. You are my hope in the day of affliction.

18 Bring shame on my persecutors, but not on me. Terrify them, but not me, Let them experience the time of trouble, and smash them to pieces.

May those who persecute me be confounded, but may I not be confounded. May they be fearful, and may I not be fearful. Lead over them the day of affliction, and crush them with a double destruction.”

19 This is what the Lord told me: Go and stand at the main gate of the city, the one used by kings of Judah, and do the same at all the other gates of Jerusalem.

Thus says the Lord to me: “Go, and stand at the gate of the sons of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter and depart, and at all the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Tell them, Listen to the Lord's message, kings of Judah, and all you people of Judah and Jerusalem who come in through these gates.

And you shall say to them: Listen to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and all of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter through these gates.”

21 This is what the Lord says: Pay attention, if you value your lives! Don't carry a load on the Sabbath day, and don't bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.

Thus says the Lord: “Guard your souls, and do not choose to carry heavy things on the day of the Sabbath, nor should you carry these things through the gates of Jerusalem.

22 Don't carry a load out of your houses, and don't do any work on the Sabbath day. Keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I ordered your forefathers.

And do not be willing to cast burdens out of your houses on the day of the Sabbath, nor should you do any work. Sanctify the day of the Sabbath, just as I instructed your fathers.

23 However, they refused to listen or pay attention. Instead they were stubborn and refused to obey or accept instruction.

But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, they hardened their neck, lest they listen to me and receive discipline.

24 Listen carefully to me, says the Lord, and don't bring any load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and don't do any work on it.

And this shall be: If you listen to me, says the Lord, so that you do not carry in burdens through the gates of this city on the day of the Sabbath, and if you sanctify the day of the Sabbath, so that you do not do work in it,

25 Then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David. They will ride in chariots and on horses with their officials, accompanied by the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

then there will enter through the gates of this city: kings and princes, sitting on the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city will be inhabited forever.

26 People will come from the towns of Judah and everywhere around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands the hill country, and the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the Lord's Temple.

And they will arrive from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plains, and from the mountainous regions, and from the south, carrying holocausts, and victims, and sacrifices, and frankincense. And they will carry an oblation into the house of the Lord.

27 But if you refuse to listen to me and keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will set its gates alight with a fire that can't be put out, and it will burn down Jerusalem's fortresses.

But if you will not listen to me, to sanctify the day of the Sabbath, and not to carry burdens, and not to bring these things through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath, then I will kindle a fire at its gates, and it will devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it will not be extinguished.”