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 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,

2 Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles that were beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.

As their sons remember their altars and their Asherim, By the green tree, by 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—your strength, All your treasures—I give for a prey, Your high places for sin in all your 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 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.”

5 Yahweh says, “The person who trusts in mankind is accursed; he makes flesh his strength but turns his heart away from Yahweh.

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

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 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.

7 But the person who trusts in Yahweh is blessed, for Yahweh is his reason for confidence.

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

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 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.

9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else. It is sick; who can understand it?

The heart [is] deceitful above all things, And it [is] incurable—who knows 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, YHWH, search the heart, try the reins, Even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

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.”

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.”

12 “The place of our temple is a glorious throne, elevated from the beginning.

A throne of glory on high from the beginning, 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.

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.”

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

15 See, they are saying to me, 'Where is the word of Yahweh? Let it come!'

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

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.

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,

17 Do not be a terror to me. You are my refuge on the day of calamity.

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

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 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.

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 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,

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 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,”

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 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.

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 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.

23 They did not listen or pay attention, but stiffened their neck so they would not hear me nor accept discipline.

And they have not listened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, 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 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—

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 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.

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 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.

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.”

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!”