Jeremiah 17:5–15

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