Jeremiah 17:1–9

“Judah’s sin is carved with an iron tool. It is written with a sharp stone.

It is carved on the tablets of their hearts.

It is written on the horns that stick out

from the corners of their altars.

²Even their children offer sacrifices

to other gods on those altars.

They use the poles that were made

to worship the goddess Asherah.

They worship strange gods beside the green trees

and on the high hills.

³I will give away my holy Mount Zion to the Babylonians.

Your enemies will carry off your wealth

and all of your treasures.

I will give away your high places.

That will happen because you have sinned.

You have done it all through your country.

⁴You will lose the land I gave you.

And it will be your own fault.

I will make you slaves to your enemies.

You will serve them in a land you have not had anything to do with before.

You have set my anger on fire.

It will burn forever.”

⁵The Lord says,

“Those who trust in man are under my curse.

They depend on human strength.

Their hearts turn away from me.

⁶They will be like a bush in a dry and empty land.

They will not enjoy success when it comes.

They will live in dry places in the desert.

It is a land of salt where no one else lives.

⁷“But I will bless any man who trusts in me.

I will show my favor to the one who depends on me.

⁸He will be like a tree that is planted near water.

It sends out its roots beside a stream.

It is not afraid when heat comes.

Its leaves are always green.

It does not worry when there is no rain.

It always bears fruit.”

⁹A human heart is more dishonest than anything else.

It can’t be healed.

Who can understand it?