Jeremiah 17:5–15

⁵Thus says the Lord:

Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals

and make mere flesh their strength,

whose hearts turn away from the Lord.^*

⁶They shall be like a shrub in the desert

and shall not see when relief comes.

They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.^*

⁷Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.^*

⁸They shall be like a tree planted by water,

sending out its roots by the stream.

It shall not fear when heat comes,

and its leaves shall stay green;

in the year of drought it is not anxious,

and it does not cease to bear fruit.^*

⁹The heart is devious above all else;

it is perverse—

who can understand it?^*

¹⁰I the Lord test the mind

and search the heart,

to give to all according to their ways,

according to the fruit of their doings.^*

¹¹Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay,

so are all who amass wealth unjustly;

in midlife it will leave them,

and at their end they will prove to be fools.

¹²O glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,

shrine of our sanctuary!

¹³O hope of Israel! O Lord!

All who forsake you shall be put to shame;

those who turn away from you^k shall be recorded in the underworld,^l

for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord.^*

Jeremiah Prays for Vindication

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

save me, and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise.^*

¹⁵See how they say to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come!”^*