Jeremiah 17:5–15

Trusting in Humans or God

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“A curse is placed on those who trust other people,

who depend on humans for strength,

who have stopped trusting the Lord.

⁶They are like a bush in a desert

that grows in a land where no one lives,

a hot and dry land with bad soil.

They don’t know about the good things God can give.

⁷“But the person who trusts in the Lord will be blessed.

The Lord will show him that he can be trusted.

⁸He will be strong, like a tree planted near water

that sends its roots by a stream.

It is not afraid when the days are hot;

its leaves are always green.

It does not worry in a year when no rain comes;

it always produces fruit.

⁹“More than anything else, a person’s mind is evil

and cannot be healed.

Who can understand it?

¹⁰But I, the Lord, look into a person’s heart

and test the mind.

So I can decide what each one deserves;

I can give each one the right payment for what he does.”

¹¹Like a bird hatching an egg it did not lay,

so are the people who get rich by cheating.

When their lives are half finished, they will lose their riches.

At the end of their lives, it will be clear they were fools.

¹²From the beginning, our Temple has been honored

as a glorious throne for God.

¹³Lord, hope of Israel,

those who leave you will be shamed.

People who quit following the Lord will be like a name written in the dust,

because they have left the Lord, the spring of living water.

Jeremiah’s Third Complaint

¹⁴Lord, heal me, and I will truly be healed.

Save me, and I will truly be saved.

You are the one I praise.

¹⁵The people of Judah keep asking me,

“Where is the word from the Lord?

Let’s see that message come true!”