Jeremiah 17:1–18:23

The Deceitful Heart

1 The asin of Judah is written down with an biron stylus;

With a diamond point it is cengraved upon the tablet of their heart

And on the horns of 1their altars,

2 As they remember their achildren,

So they remember their altars and their 1bAsherim

By cgreen trees on the high hills.

3 O amountain of Mine in the countryside,

I will bgive over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,

Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

4 And you will, even of yourself, alet go of your inheritance

That I gave you;

And I will make you serve your benemies

In the cland which you do not know;

For you have dkindled a fire in My anger

Which will burn forever.

5 Thus says the Lord,

“aCursed is the man who trusts in mankind

And makes bflesh his 1strength,

And whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6 “For he will be like a abush in the desert

And will not see when prosperity comes,

But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,

A bland of salt 1without inhabitant.

7 “aBlessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

And whose btrust is the Lord.

8 “For he will be like a atree planted by the water,

That extends its roots by a stream

And will not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of bdrought

Nor cease to yield fruit.

9 “The aheart is more bdeceitful than all else

And is desperately csick;

Who can understand it?

10 “I, the Lord, asearch the heart,

I test the 1mind,

Even bto give to each man according to his ways,

According to the 2results of his deeds.

11 “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,

So is he who amakes a fortune, but unjustly;

In the midst of his days it will forsake him,

And in 1the end he will be a bfool.”

12 aA glorious throne on high from the beginning

Is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O Lord, the ahope of Israel,

All who bforsake You will be put to shame.

Those who turn 1away on earth will be cwritten down,

Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.

14 aHeal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;

bSave me and I will be saved,

For You are my cpraise.

15 Look, they keep asaying to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come now!”

16 But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You,

Nor have I longed for the woeful day;

aYou Yourself know that the utterance of my lips

Was in Your presence.

17 Do not be a aterror to me;

You are my brefuge in the day of disaster.

18 Let those who persecute me be aput to shame, but as for me, blet me not be put to shame;

Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.

cBring on them a day of disaster,

And crush them with twofold destruction!

The Sabbath Must Be Kept

19 Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and stand in the 1public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 and say to them, ‘aListen to the word of the Lord, bkings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates:

21 ‘Thus says the Lord, “aTake heed for yourselves, and bdo not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

22 “You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day anor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I bcommanded your 1forefathers.

23 “Yet they adid not listen or incline their ears, but bstiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.

24 “But it will come about, if you alisten attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bbring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, cbut to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,

25 athen there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes bsitting on 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 ccity will be inhabited forever.

26 “They will come in from the acities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the blowland, from the hill country and from the cNegev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.

27 “But aif you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then bI will kindle a fire in its gates and it will cdevour the palaces of Jerusalem and dnot be quenched.” ’ ”

Chapter 18

The Potter and the Clay

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying,

2 “Arise and ago down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.”

3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the 1wheel.

4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the aclay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

7 “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to auproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;

8 aif that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will 1brelent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.

9 “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to abuild up or to plant it;

10 if it does aevil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will 1bthink better of the good with which I had promised to 2bless it.

11 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am afashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh bturn back, each of you from his evil way, and 1reform your ways and your deeds.” ’

12 “But athey will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the bstubbornness of his evil heart.’

13 “Therefore thus says the Lord,

‘aAsk now among the nations,

Who ever heard the like of 1this?

The bvirgin of Israel

Has done a most cappalling thing.

14 ‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?

Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?

15 ‘For aMy people have forgotten Me,

bThey burn incense 1to worthless gods

And they 2have stumbled 3from their ways,

3From the cancient paths,

To walk in bypaths,

Not on a dhighway,

16 To make their land a adesolation,

An object of perpetual bhissing;

Everyone who passes by it will be astonished

And cshake his head.

17 ‘Like an aeast wind I will bscatter them

Before the enemy;

I will 1show them cMy back and not My face

dIn the day of their calamity.’ ”

18 Then they said, “Come and let us adevise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the blaw is not going to be lost to the priest, nor ccounsel to the sage, nor the divine dword to the prophet! Come on and let us estrike at him with our tongue, and let us fgive no heed to any of his words.”

19 Do give heed to me, O Lord,

And listen to 1what my opponents are saying!

20 aShould good be repaid with evil?

For they have bdug a pit for 1me.

Remember how I cstood before You

To speak good on their behalf,

So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

21 Therefore, agive their children over to famine

And deliver them up to the 1power of the sword;

And let their wives become bchildless and cwidowed.

Let their men also be smitten to death,

Their dyoung men struck down by the sword in battle.

22 May an aoutcry be heard from their houses,

When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;

bFor they have dug a pit to capture me

And chidden snares for my feet.

23 Yet You, O Lord, know

All their 1deadly designs against me;

aDo not 2forgive their iniquity

Or blot out their sin from Your sight.

But may they be 3boverthrown before You;

Deal with them in the ctime of Your anger!