Jeremiah 17

17“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,^h

inscribed with a flint point,

on the tablets of their heartsⁱ

and on the horns^j of their altars.

²Even their children remember

their altars and Asherah poles^ak

beside the spreading trees

and on the high hills.^l

³My mountain in the land

and your^b wealth and all your treasures

I will give away as plunder,^m

together with your high places,ⁿ

because of sin throughout your country.^o

⁴Through your own fault you will lose

the inheritance^p I gave you.

I will enslave you to your enemies^q

in a land^r you do not know,

for you have kindled my anger,

and it will burn^s forever.”

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^t

who draws strength from mere flesh

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^u

⁶That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;

they will not see prosperity when it comes.

They will dwell in the parched places^v of the desert,

in a salt^w land where no one lives.

⁷“But blessed^x is the one who trusts^y in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

⁸They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.^z

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought^a

and never fails to bear fruit.”^b

⁹The heart^c is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

¹⁰“I the Lord search the heart^d

and examine the mind,^e

to reward^f each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.”^g

¹¹Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay

are those who gain riches by unjust means.

When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,

and in the end they will prove to be fools.^h

¹²A glorious throne,ⁱ exalted from the beginning,

is the place of our sanctuary.

¹³Lord, you are the hope^j of Israel;

all who forsake^k you will be put to shame.

Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^l

because they have forsaken the Lord,

the spring of living water.^m

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;ⁿ

save^o me and I will be saved,

for you are the one I praise.^p

¹⁵They keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it now be fulfilled!”^q

¹⁶I have not run away from being your shepherd;

you know I have not desired the day of despair.

What passes my lips^r is open before you.

¹⁷Do not be a terror^s to me;

you are my refuge^t in the day of disaster.^u

¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,

but keep me from shame;

let them be terrified,

but keep me from terror.

Bring on them the day of disaster;

destroy them with double destruction.^v

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,^c through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.^{w 20}Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem^x who come through these gates.^{y 21}This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath^z day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. ²²Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.^{a 23}Yet they did not listen or pay attention;^b they were stiff-necked^c and would not listen or respond to discipline.^{d 24}But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy^e by not doing any work on it, ²⁵then kings who sit on David’s throne^f will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.^{g 26}People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,^h bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. ²⁷But if you do not obeyⁱ me to keep the Sabbath^j day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire^k in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’ ”^l