Jeremiah 17

1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond, Engraved on the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars,

“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.

2 As their sons remember their altars and their Asherim, By the green tree, by the high hills.

Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.

3 O My mountain in the field—your strength, All your treasures—I give for a prey, Your high places for sin in all your borders.

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.

4 And you have let go—even through yourself, Of your inheritance that I gave to you, And I have caused you to serve your enemies, In a land that you have not known, For you have kindled a fire in My anger, It burns for all time.”

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.”

5 Thus said YHWH: “Cursed [is] the man who trusts in man, And has made flesh his arm, And whose heart turns from YHWH.

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.

6 And he has been as a naked thing in a desert, And does not see when good comes, And has inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.

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.

7 Blessed [is] the man who trusts in YHWH, And whose confidence has been YHWH.

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

8 And has been as a tree planted by waters, And he sends forth his roots by a stream, And he does not see when heat comes, And his leaf has been green, And he is not sorrowful in a year of scarcity, Nor does he cease from making fruit.

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.

9 The heart [is] deceitful above all things, And it [is] incurable—who knows it?

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

10 I, YHWH, search the heart, try the reins, Even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

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

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.”

12 A throne of glory on high from the beginning, The place of our sanctuary,

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

13 The hope of Israel [is] YHWH, All forsaking You are ashamed. “And My apostates are written in the earth, For they have forsaken YHWH, A fountain of living waters.”

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.

14 Heal me, O YHWH, and I am healed, Save me, and I am saved, For You [are] my praise.

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.

15 Behold, they are saying to me: “Where [is] the word of YHWH? Pray, let it come.”

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

16 And I did not hurry from feeding after You, And I have not desired the desperate day, You have known the produce of my lips, It has been before Your face,

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.

17 Do not be to me for a terror, You [are] my hope in a day of calamity.

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

18 Let my pursuers be ashamed, And do not let me be ashamed—me! Let them be frightened, And do not let me be frightened—me! Bring in on them a day of calamity, And destroy them a second time [with] destruction.

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.

19 Thus said YHWH to me: “Go, and you have 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,

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.

20 and you have said to them: Hear a word of YHWH, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates,”

Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, all people of Judah and Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

21 Thus said YHWH: “Take heed to yourselves, And you do not bear a burden on the day of rest, Nor have you brought [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem.

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.

22 Nor do you take out a burden from your houses on the day of rest, Indeed, you do not do any work, And you have sanctified the day of rest, As I have commanded your fathers.

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.

23 And they have not listened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction.

Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.

24 And it has been, if you certainly listen to Me,” A declaration of YHWH, “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 any work in it—

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,

25 Then kings and princes have entered by the gates of this city, 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 has remained for all time.

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.

26 And they have come in from cities of Judah, And from outskirts 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 YHWH.

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.

27 And if you do not listen to 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 has consumed the high places of Jerusalem, And it is not quenched!”

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.’”