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 recorded with a pen of iron, and with the sharp point of a jewel it is cut on their hearts of stone, and on the horns of their altars for a sign to them:
Their altars and their wood pillars under every branching tree, on the high hills and the mountains in the field.
I will give your wealth and all your stores to be taken away in war without a price, because of your sins in every part of your land.
And your hand will have to let go your heritage which I gave you; and I will make you a servant to your haters in a land which is strange to you: for you have put my wrath on fire with a flame which will go on burning for ever.
This is what the Lord has said: Cursed is the man who puts his faith in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart is turned away 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 will be like the brushwood in the upland, and will not see when good comes; but his living-place will be in the dry places in the waste land, in a salt and unpeopled land.
7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord shall be.
A blessing is on the man who puts his faith 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 toward 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 will be like a tree planted by the waters, pushing out its roots by the stream; he will have no fear when the heat comes, but his leaf will be green; in a dry year he will have no care, and will go on giving fruit.
9 The heart is deep beyond all things, and it is the man, and who can know him?
The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of 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 am the searcher of the heart, the tester of the thoughts, so that I may give to every man the reward of his ways, in keeping with 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.
Like the partridge, getting eggs together but not producing young, is a man who gets wealth but not by right; before half his days are ended, it will go from him, and at his end he will be foolish.
12 An exalted throne of glory is our sanctuary.
A seat of glory, placed on high from the first, is our holy place.
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 who give you up will be put to shame; those who go away from you will be cut off from the earth, because they have given up 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.
Make me well, O Lord, and I will be well; be my saviour, and I will be safe: for you are my hope.
15 Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come.
See, 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 said; Let the day of trouble come to them quickly; and I have not been hoping for the death-giving day; you have knowledge of what came from my lips; it was open before you.
17 Be not to me a stranger, [but] spare me in the evil day.
Be not a cause of fear to me: you are my safe place 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 put to shame who are attacking me, but let me not be shamed; let them be overcome with fear, but let me not be overcome: send on them the day of evil, and put them to destruction twice over.
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:
This is what the Lord has said to me: Go and take your place in the doorway of Benjamin, where the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the doorways 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, Give ear to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who come in by these doors:
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;
This is what the Lord has said: See to yourselves, that you take up no weight on the Sabbath day, or take it in through the doors 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.
And take no weight out of your houses on the Sabbath day, or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I gave orders to 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 gave no attention and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff so that they might not give ear and might not get teaching.
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 will be, that if with all care you give ear to me, says the Lord, and take no weight through the doorways of this town on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and 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 through the doors of this town there will come kings and princes, seated on the seat of David, going in carriages and on horseback, they and their princes, and the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: and this town will keep its place 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 will come from the towns of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands, and from the mountains, and from the South, with burned offerings and offerings of beasts and meal offerings and perfume and offerings 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 you do not give ear to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and to let no weight be lifted and taken through the doors of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: then I will put a fire in its doorways, burning up the great houses of Jerusalem, and it will never be put out.
