Jeremiah 17

Judah’s Sin and Punishment

17“The sin of Judah is ^awritten with a ^bpen of iron;

With the point of a diamond it is ^cengraved

On the tablet of their heart,

And on the horns of your altars,

²While their children remember

Their altars and their ^dwooden ¹images

By the green trees on the high hills.

³O My mountain in the field,

I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures,

And your high places of sin within all your borders.

⁴And you, even yourself,

Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you;

And I will cause you to serve your enemies

In ^ethe land which you do not know;

For ^fyou have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever.”

⁵Thus says the Lord:

^g“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

And makes ^hflesh his ²strength,

Whose heart departs from the Lord.

⁶For he shall be ⁱlike a shrub in the desert,

And ^jshall not see when good comes,

But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,

^kIn a salt land which is not inhabited.

⁷“Blessed ^lis the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

⁸For he shall be ^mlike a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not ³fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

⁹“The ⁿheart is deceitful above all things,

And ⁴desperately wicked;

Who can know it?

¹⁰I, the Lord, ^osearch the heart,

I test the ⁵mind,

^pEven to give every man according to his ways,

According to the fruit of his doings.

¹¹“As a partridge that ⁶broods but does not hatch,

So is he who gets riches, but not by right;

It ^qwill leave him in the midst of his days,

And at his end he will be ^ra fool.”

¹²A glorious high throne from the beginning

Is the place of our sanctuary.

¹³O Lord, ^sthe hope of Israel,

^tAll who forsake You shall be ashamed.

“Those who depart from Me

Shall be ^uwritten in the earth,

Because they have forsaken the Lord,

The ^vfountain of living waters.”

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

¹⁴Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

Save me, and I shall be saved,

For ^wYou are my praise.

¹⁵Indeed they say to me,

^x“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come now!”

¹⁶As for me, ^yI have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You,

Nor have I desired the woeful day;

You know what came out of my lips;

It was right there before You.

¹⁷Do not be a terror to me;

^zYou are my hope in the day of doom.

^18aLet them be ashamed who persecute me,

But ^bdo not let me be put to shame;

Let them be dismayed,

But do not let me be dismayed.

Bring on them the day of doom,

And ^cdestroy ⁷them with double destruction!

Hallow the Sabbath Day

¹⁹Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; ²⁰and say to them, ^d‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. ²¹Thus says the Lord: ^e“Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; ²²nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I ^fcommanded your fathers. ^23gBut they did not obey nor incline their ear, but ⁸made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.

²⁴“And it shall be, ^hif you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the ⁱSabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, ^25jthen shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. ²⁶And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from ^kthe places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from ^lthe ⁹lowland, from the mountains and from ^mthe ¹South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing ⁿsacrifices of praise to the house of the Lord.

²⁷“But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then ^oI will kindle a fire in its gates, ^pand it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be ^qquenched.” ’ ”