Jeremiah 17:1–9

The Sin and Punishment of Judah

17The Lord says, “People of Judah, your sin is written with an iron pen; it is engraved on your hearts with a diamond point and carved on the corners of your altars. ²Your people worship at the altars and the symbols that have been set up for the goddess Asherah by every green tree, on the hilltops ³and on the mountains in the open country. I will make your enemies take away your wealth and your treasures because of all the sins you have committed^u throughout your land. ⁴You will have to give up^v the land I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land you know nothing about, because my anger is like a fire, and it will burn for ever.”

Various Sayings

⁵The Lord says,

“I will condemn those

who turn away from me

and put their trust in human beings,

in the strength of mortals.

⁶They are like bushes in the desert,

which grow in the dry wilderness,

on salty ground where nothing else grows.

Nothing good ever happens to them.

⁷“But I will bless those

who put their trust in me.

^8*They are like trees growing near a stream

and sending out roots to the water.

They are not afraid when hot weather comes,

because their leaves stay green;

they have no worries when there is no rain;

they keep on bearing fruit.

⁹“Who can understand the human heart?

There is nothing else so deceitful;

it is too sick to be healed.