Jeremiah 17
1 [Yahweh said, “It is as though a list of] the sins [committed by the people of] Judah is engraved with an iron chisel, or engraved using the fine point of a very hard stone, on the altars [where they worship idols]. And [it is as though] this list is engraved on their inner beings!
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 are happy to go to the altars [to worship their gods], and to the poles [that represent the goddess] Asherah [at which their parents worshiped], shrines that are underneath all the big trees and on [all] the high hills.
While their children remember the altars, and the images of Astarte, Near the green trees, And upon the high hills.
3 So, I will allow your enemies to capture [Zion], your holy hill, and all your wealth and your (treasures/valuable things), and [even] the shrines on all those hills, because of the sins that you people have committed throughout your land.
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 The [wonderful] land that I gave to you will no longer belong to you. I will tell your enemies to take you to a land that you do not know about, and you will become their slaves. [I will do that] because I am extremely angry [with you]; my being angry is [like] a fire that 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 [also] what Yahweh says: “[I] will curse/condemn those who trust in human beings [to help them], those who rely on their own strength and turn away from me.
Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed be the man who trusteth in man, And maketh flesh his arm, And whose heart departeth from Jehovah!
6 They are like [dry] bushes in the desert, they are people who will not experience any good things. Those people will live in the barren desert in a salty area, where nothing grows.
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 But I am pleased with those who trust in [me], Yahweh, and who confidently expect [me to take care of them].
Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah; Who in Jehovah placeth his hope!
8 Those people are like [SIM] fruit trees that have been planted along a riverbank, trees that have roots that go down into the [wet ground beside] the water. They are trees whose leaves remain green when it becomes hot, trees that continue to bear fruit when there are many months in which there is no rain.
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 Human minds are extremely corrupt/deceitful, and you cannot change that. It is also completely impossible [RHQ] for anyone to understand that.
The heart is deceitful above all things; Yea, it is corrupt; who can know it?
10 But I, Yahweh, search what is in everyone’s inner being, and I examine what they are thinking. I will give all people rewards, what they deserve for what they have done.”
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 [I, Jeremiah, agree, because I know that] people who become rich by doing things that are unjust are like birds that hatch eggs that they (did not lay/stole from another nest). So, when those people have lived only half of the years [that they expect to live], their wealth will disappear. Then [other people will realize that] those rich people have been foolish.
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 Yahweh, your temple is [like] a glorious throne that is still on a high hill.
A glorious, lofty throne from the beginning Hath been the place of our sanctuary.
13 You are the one whom [we] Israeli people confidently expect [to bless us], and all those who turn away from you will be disgraced. Their names will be written [only] in the dust, [and will soon disappear], because they have abandoned you, [who are like] [MET] a fountain where people obtain fresh 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 Yahweh, [please] heal me, because [if you heal me], I will truly be healed. [If you] rescue me, I will truly be safe, because you are the [only] one whom I praise.
Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved; For thou art my praise!
15 People often ridicule me and say, “You tell us messages that you say came from Yahweh, but (why have the things that you predicted not happened?/those predictions have not come true!)” [RHQ]
Behold, they say to me, “Where is the word of Jehovah? Let it come to pass!”
16 Yahweh, you [appointed me to take care of your people like] a shepherd [takes care of his sheep] [MET]; I have not abandoned that work, and you know that I have not [previously] wanted this time of disaster [to come to people who ridicule me]. And you know everything that I have said [MTY] [to your people].
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 Do not cause me to be terrified! When disasters come/occur, you are the one to whom I will go to be safe.
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 [So now], cause those who (persecute me/cause me to suffer) to be ashamed and dismayed, but do not [do things to me that will] cause me to be ashamed and dismayed. Cause them to be terrified! Do to them many things that will completely destroy them!
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 Yahweh said to me: “Go to the city gates in Jerusalem. [First] go to the gate where the kings of Judah go in and out of the city, and [then] go to each of the [other] gates.
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 Say to the people [at each gate], ‘You kings of Judah and everyone [else] who is living in Jerusalem and all [you other people of] Judah who enter these gates, listen to this message from Yahweh!
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 He says, “Listen to this warning carefully! [Stop doing work] on (Sabbath/our rest) days! Stop carrying loads through these gates [on those days]!
Thus saith Jehovah: Take heed to yourselves, And carry no burden on the sabbath-day, And bring none through the gates of Jerusalem.
22 Do not carry loads out of your houses or do any [other] work on Sabbath days! Instead, cause Sabbath days to be (holy/set apart for me). I commanded your ancestors to do that,
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 but they did not listen to me or obey me. When I did things to correct them, they stubbornly [IDM] refused to pay attention to what I said or to accept it.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, But made their necks stiff, and refused to hear, And refused to receive instruction.
24 But I say that if you obey me, and if you do not carry loads through these gates [on Sabbath days] or do any other work on Sabbath days, and if you dedicate the Sabbath days to me,
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 kings of Judah [MTY] and [their] officials will [continue to] go in and out of these gates. There will [always] be someone who is a descendant of [MTY] [King] David ruling [here] [MTY] in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates, riding in chariots and on horses, and there will be people living in this city 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 And people will come [to Jerusalem] bringing offerings to be completely burned [on the altar] and [other] offerings. They will bring to the temple grain offerings and incense and offerings to thank [me]. People will bring those offerings from the towns in Judah and the villages near Jerusalem and from the land [where the tribe] of Benjamin [lives] and from the western foothills and from the desert in the south.
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 do not pay attention to what I say, and if you refuse to dedicate the Sabbath days to me, and if you [continue to] carry loads through these gates into the city on Sabbath days, I will burn these gates completely. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out that fire.”’”
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.
