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 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:

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

Their altars and their wood pillars under every branching tree, on the high hills and the mountains in the field.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 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.

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

A blessing is on the man who puts his faith in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

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.

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

The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of 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 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 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 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 A throne of glory on high from the beginning, The place of our sanctuary,

A seat of glory, placed on high from the first, is our holy place.

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

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

See, they say 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,

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

Be not a cause of fear to me: you are my safe place in the day of evil.

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 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 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 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 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,”

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 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 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 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.

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

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 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—

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 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 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 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 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 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 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.