Jeremiah 17–19

Chapter 17

Judah’s Sin and Punishment

¹“The sin of Judah

is inscribed with an iron chisel—

engraved with a diamond point on their stony hearts

and on the corners of their altars.

²Even their children go to worship

at their pagan altars and Asherah poles,

beneath every green tree

and on every high hill.

³So I will hand over my holy mountain—

along with all your wealth and treasures

and your pagan shrines—

as plunder to your enemies,

for sin runs rampant in your land.

⁴The wonderful possession I have reserved for you

will slip from your hands.

I will tell your enemies to take you

as captives to a foreign land.

For my anger blazes like a fire

that will burn forever.”

Wisdom from the Lord

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,

who rely on human strength

and turn their hearts away from the Lord.

⁶They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,

with no hope for the future.

They will live in the barren wilderness,

in an uninhabited salty land.

⁷“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord

and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

⁸They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.

⁹“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

¹⁰But I, the Lord, search all hearts

and examine secret motives.

I give all people their due rewards,

according to what their actions deserve.”

Jeremiah’s Trust in the Lord

¹¹Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,

so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.

At midlife they will lose their riches;

in the end, they will become poor old fools.

¹²But we worship at your throne—

eternal, high, and glorious!

¹³O Lord, the hope of Israel,

all who turn away from you will be disgraced.

They will be buried in the dust of the earth,

for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.

¹⁴O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;

if you save me, I will be truly saved.

My praises are for you alone!

¹⁵People scoff at me and say,

“What is this ‘message from the Lord’ you talk about?

Why don’t your predictions come true?”

¹⁶Lord, I have not abandoned my job

as a shepherd for your people.

I have not urged you to send disaster.

You have heard everything I’ve said.

¹⁷Lord, don’t terrorize me!

You alone are my hope in the day of disaster.

¹⁸Bring shame and dismay on all who persecute me,

but don’t let me experience shame and dismay.

Bring a day of terror on them.

Yes, bring double destruction upon them!

Observing the Sabbath

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gates of Jerusalem, first in the gate where the king goes in and out, and then in each of the other gates. ²⁰Say to all the people, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem. ²¹This is what the Lord says: Listen to my warning! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day. ²²Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, ²³but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline.

²⁴“ ‘But if you obey me, says the Lord, and do not carry on your trade at the gates or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy, ²⁵then kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates forever. There will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will always ride in and out among the people of Judah in chariots and on horses, and this city will remain forever. ²⁶And from all around Jerusalem, from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from the western foothills and the hill country and the Negev, the people will come with their burnt offerings and sacrifices. They will bring their grain offerings, frankincense, and thanksgiving offerings to the Lord’s Temple.

²⁷“ ‘But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.’ ”

Chapter 18

The Potter and the Clay

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ²“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” ³So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. ⁴But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.

⁵Then the Lord gave me this message: ⁶“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. ⁷If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, ⁸but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. ⁹And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, ¹⁰but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

¹¹“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’ ”

¹²But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”

¹³So this is what the Lord says:

“Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,

even among the pagan nations?

My virgin daughter Israel

has done something terrible!

¹⁴Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon?

Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry?

¹⁵But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me;

they burn incense to worthless idols.

They have stumbled off the ancient highways

and walk in muddy paths.

¹⁶Therefore, their land will become desolate,

a monument to their stupidity.

All who pass by will be astonished

and will shake their heads in amazement.

¹⁷I will scatter my people before their enemies

as the east wind scatters dust.

And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them

and refuse to notice their distress.”

A Plot against Jeremiah

¹⁸Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.”

¹⁹Lord, hear me and help me!

Listen to what my enemies are saying.

²⁰Should they repay evil for good?

They have dug a pit to kill me,

though I pleaded for them

and tried to protect them from your anger.

²¹So let their children starve!

Let them die by the sword!

Let their wives become childless widows.

Let their old men die in a plague,

and let their young men be killed in battle!

²²Let screaming be heard from their homes

as warriors come suddenly upon them.

For they have dug a pit for me

and have hidden traps along my path.

²³Lord, you know all about their murderous plots against me.

Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins.

Let them die before you.

Deal with them in your anger.

Chapter 19

Jeremiah’s Shattered Jar

This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you. ²Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message. ³Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will bring a terrible disaster on this place, and the ears of those who hear about it will ring!

⁴“ ‘For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of wickedness. The people burn incense to foreign gods—idols never before acknowledged by this generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah. And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children. ⁵They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! ⁶So beware, for the time is coming, says the Lord, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

⁷“ ‘For I will upset the careful plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will allow the people to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals. ⁸I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there. ⁹I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’

¹⁰“As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought. ¹¹Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them. ¹²This is what I will do to this place and its people, says the Lord. I will cause this city to become defiled like Topheth. ¹³Yes, all the houses in Jerusalem, including the palace of Judah’s kings, will become like Topheth—all the houses where you burned incense on the rooftops to your star gods, and where liquid offerings were poured out to your idols.’ ”

¹⁴Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, the garbage dump where he had delivered this message, and he stopped in front of the…