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 is written with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond is it engraved Upon the tablet of their hearts, Upon the horns of their altars.
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,
While their children remember the altars, and the images of Astarte, Near the green trees, And upon the high hills.
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.
My mountain in the field! thy substance and all thy treasures will I give up for spoil; Thy high places for sin in all thy 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.
Thou shalt of thyself cease to possess the inheritance which I gave thee, And I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not; For ye have kindled a fire in my anger, Which shall burn forever.
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 saith Jehovah: Cursed be the man who trusteth in man, And maketh flesh his arm, And whose heart departeth from Jehovah!
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.
He shall be like a poor wanderer in the desert, Who seeth not when good cometh, But dwelleth in the parched places of the desert, In a salt land, and uninhabited.
7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, who put their confidence in him.
Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah; Who in Jehovah placeth his hope!
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.
He shall be like a tree planted by the water-side, That spreadeth out her roots by the stream, That feeleth not when the heat cometh, But whose leaf is green; That careth not in the year of drought, Nor ceaseth from yielding fruit.
9 The mind is more deceptive than anything else—it's incurably sick! Who can possibly understand it?
The heart is deceitful above all things; Yea, it is corrupt; 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, Jehovah, search the heart, And try the reins, To give to every man according to his ways, And according to the fruit of his doings.
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.
As the partridge sitteth on eggs which she hath not laid, So is he that getteth riches, and not by right; In the midst of his days shall he leave them, And in his latter end find himself a fool.
12 Our Temple is a throne of glory, raised up high from the beginning.
A glorious, lofty throne from the beginning Hath been the place of our sanctuary.
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 thou hope of Israel, Jehovah! All that forsake thee shall be put to shame; Yea, all that depart from me shall be written in dust, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, they have forsaken Jehovah.
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 Jehovah, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved; For thou art 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 say to me, “Where is the word of Jehovah? Let it come to pass!”
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.
I have not refused to follow thee, as thy shepherd, Neither have I desired the day of woe, as thou knowest! That which came from my lips hath been before thine eyes.
17 Please don't be the one who terrifies me! You are my protection in the time of trouble.
Be not thou a terror to me, Thou, my refuge in the day of distress! Let my persecutors be confounded, but let not me be confounded!
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.
Let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed! Bring upon them the day of calamity, And destroy them with 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 said Jehovah to me: Go and stand in the people's gate, Through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, And in 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 say to them, Hear the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, All Judah, and all ye who dwell at Jerusalem, Who enter in 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 saith Jehovah: Take heed to yourselves, And carry no burden on the sabbath-day, And bring none 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.
Bear no burden from your houses on the sabbath-day, And do no kind of work; But keep ye holy the sabbath-day, As I commanded your fathers.
23 However, they refused to listen or pay attention. Instead they were stubborn and refused to obey or accept instruction.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, But made their necks stiff, and refused to hear, And refused to receive instruction.
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.
If ye will now diligently hearken to me, saith Jehovah, And bring no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, But keep holy the sabbath-day, Doing no work therein,
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 shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes, Who sit upon the throne of David, Riding in chariots and on horses, They and their chieftains, The men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; And this city shall 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.
Then from the cities of Judah, and the places around Jerusalem, From the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, From the mountains, and from the South, Shall they come bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, And flour-offerings, and incense, And bringing thank-offerings to the house of Jehovah.
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 ye will not hearken to me, To keep holy the sabbath-day, And to carry no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day, Then will I kindle in her gates an unquenchable fire, Which shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
