Jeremiah 17:1–18:23
17 “The sin of Judah is awritten with a bpen of iron;
With the point of a diamond it is cengraved
On the tablet of their heart,
And on the horns of your altars,
2 While their children remember
Their altars and their dwooden 1images
By the green trees on the high hills.
I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures,
And your high places of sin within all your borders.
Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you;
And I will cause you to serve your enemies
In ethe land which you do not know;
For fyou have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever.”
g“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes hflesh his 2strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be ilike a shrub in the desert,
And jshall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
kIn a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed lis the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be mlike a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not 3fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The nheart is deceitful above all things,
And 4desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, osearch the heart,
I test the 5mind,
pEven to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
11 “As a partridge that 6broods but does not hatch,
So is he who gets riches, but not by right;
It qwill leave him in the midst of his days,
And at his end he will be ra fool.”
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, sthe hope of Israel,
tAll who forsake You shall be ashamed.
“Those who depart from Me
Shall be uwritten in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the Lord,
The vfountain of living waters.”
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For wYou are my praise.
x“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 As for me, yI have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You,
Nor have I desired the woeful day;
You know what came out of my lips;
It was right there before You.
zYou are my hope in the day of doom.
18 aLet them be ashamed who persecute me,
But bdo not let me be put to shame;
Let them be dismayed,
But do not let me be dismayed.
Bring on them the day of doom,
And cdestroy 7them with double destruction!
19 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, d‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: e“Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I fcommanded your fathers. 23 gBut they did not obey nor incline their ear, but 8made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
24 “And it shall be, hif you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the iSabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 jthen shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from kthe places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from lthe 9lowland, from the mountains and from mthe 1South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing nsacrifices of praise to the house of the Lord.
27 “But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then oI will kindle a fire in its gates, pand it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be qquenched.” ’ ”
18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the 1wheel. 4 And the vessel that he 2made of clay was 3marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, acan I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, bas the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to cpluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 dif that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, eI will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
11 “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. fReturn now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings ggood.” ’ ”
12 And they said, h“That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one 4obey the idictates 5of his evil heart.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord:
j“Ask now among the Gentiles,
Who has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel has done ka very horrible thing.
14 Will a man 6leave the snow water of Lebanon,
Which comes from the rock of the field?
Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?
15 “Because My people have forgotten lMe,
They have burned incense to worthless idols.
And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
From the mancient paths,
To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
16 To make their land ndesolate and a perpetual ohissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And shake his head.
17 pI will scatter them qas with an east wind before the enemy;
rI will 7show them the back and not the face
In the day of their calamity.”
18 Then they said, s“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; tfor the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!
20 uShall evil be repaid for good?
For they have vdug a pit for my life.
Remember that I wstood before You
To speak good 8for them,
To turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore xdeliver up their children to the famine,
And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword;
Let their wives become widows
And ybereaved of their children.
Let their men be put to death,
Their young men be slain
By the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
For they have dug a pit to take me,
And hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
zProvide no atonement for their iniquity,
Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
But let them be overthrown before You.
Deal thus with them
In the time of Your aanger.