Jeremiah 17
1 “The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus having a diamond point. It is engraved on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of your altars.
The sin of Judah is written down with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond: it is engraved upon the table of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles that were beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
Like their remembrance of their children, so are [to them] their altars and their groves by [every] green tree upon the high hills.
3 My mountain in the open country, and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of the sin you committed in all your territories.
O my mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures will I give up for spoil, thy high-places [reared] with sin, throughout all thy borders.
4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave to you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land that you do not know, for you have ignited a fire in my wrath, which will burn forever.”
And thou shalt be cast out, yea through thy own guilt, from thy heritage which I have given thee; and I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in my anger, for ever shall it burn.
5 Yahweh says, “The person who trusts in mankind is accursed; he makes flesh his strength but turns his heart away from Yahweh.
Thus hath said the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and placeth on flesh his dependence, while from the Lord his heart departeth.
6 For he will be like a small bush in the Arabah and will not see anything good coming. He will stay in the stony places in the wilderness, barren land without inhabitants.
And he shall be like a lonely tree in the desert, which feeleth not when the good cometh; but abideth in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salty land which cannot be inhabited.
7 But the person who trusts in Yahweh is blessed, for Yahweh is his reason for confidence.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord will be his trust.
8 For he will be like a tree planted by water, its roots will spread out by the stream. It will not fear the heat when it comes, for its leaves are always green. It is not anxious in a year of drought, and it will not stop producing fruit.
And he shall be like a tree that is planted by the waters, and by a stream spreadeth out its roots, which feeleth not when heat cometh, but its leaf remaineth green; and in a year of drought it is undisturbed by care, and ceaseth not from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else. It is sick; who can understand it?
Deceitful is the heart above all things, and sick: who can know it?
10 I am Yahweh, the one who searches through the mind, who tests the hearts. I give to each person according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
I the Lord search the heart, probe the reins: yea, to give unto every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
11 A partridge hatches an egg that she did not lay. Someone may become rich unjustly, but when half his days are over, those riches will abandon him, and in the end he will be a fool.”
As a cuckoo that sitteth on eggs which he hath not laid, so is he that get the riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be called wicked.
12 “The place of our temple is a glorious throne, elevated from the beginning.
A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary!
13 Yahweh is the hope of Israel. All who abandon you will be put to shame; those in the land who turn away from you will be written in the earth, for they have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of living waters.
Hope of Israel, O Lord, all that forsake thee shall be made ashamed, and the backsliders among me shall be written down on the earth; because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, the Lord.
14 Heal me, Yahweh, and I will be healed! Rescue me, and I will be rescued. For you are my song of praise.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved; for my praise art thou.
15 See, they are saying to me, 'Where is the word of Yahweh? Let it come!'
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.
16 As for me, I did not run from being a shepherd following you. I did not long for the day of disaster. You know the proclamations that came from my lips. They were made in your presence.
As for me, I have not hastened to be a shepherd to follow thee; and the woeful day have I not longed for; thou knowest it: what came out of my lips was known before thee.
17 Do not be a terror to me. You are my refuge on the day of calamity.
Be not a terror unto me: thou art my protection on the day of evil.
18 May my pursuers be ashamed, but do not let me be ashamed. May they be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed. Send the day of disaster against them and shatter them with a double share of destruction.”
Let those be made ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be made ashamed: let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and strike them with a double breach.
19 Yahweh said this to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the people where the kings of Judah enter and where they exit, then in all the other gates of Jerusalem.
Thus said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah usually enter, and by which they usually go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
20 Say to them, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and all you people of Judah, and every resident of Jerusalem who comes in through these gates.
And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates.
21 Yahweh says this: “Be careful for the sake of your lives and do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day to bring it to the gates of Jerusalem.
Thus hath said the Lord, Take heed for your souls, and bear no burden on the sabbath-day, nor bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem;
22 Do not bring a load out from your house on the Sabbath day. Do not do any work, but set apart the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors to do.”'
Nor shall you carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath-day, and no manner of work shall ye do, but hallow ye the sabbath-day, as I have commanded your fathers;
23 They did not listen or pay attention, but stiffened their neck so they would not hear me nor accept discipline.
But they hearkened not, and inclined not their ear; and they made their neck stiff, so as not to hearken, and not to receive instruction.
24 It will happen that if you truly listen to me—this is Yahweh's declaration—and do not bring a load to the gates of this city on the Sabbath day but instead set apart the Sabbath day to Yahweh and not do any work on it,
And it shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, so as to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, and to hallow the sabbath-day, so as to do no work thereon:
25 then kings, princes, and those who sit on David's throne will come to the gates of this city in chariots and with horses, they and their leaders, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.
Then shall there enter through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited for ever.
26 They will come from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and the lowlands, from the mountains, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, thank offerings to the house of Yahweh.
And there shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands, and from the mountain, and from the south, those that bring burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and frankincense, and those that bring thanksgiving-offerings, unto the house of the Lord.
27 But if you do not listen to me—to set apart the Sabbath day and to not carry heavy loads and to not enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day—then I will light a fire in its gates, and it will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem, and it cannot be put out.”
But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, and to enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day: then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
