Jeremiah 17:1–9

“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?