Jeremiah 17:1–9

¹“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, ²while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree, and on the high hills, ³on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your sin^a throughout all your territory. ⁴You shall loosen your hand^b from your heritage which I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land which you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled which shall burn for ever.”

⁵Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his arm,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

⁶He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

⁸He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately corrupt;

who can understand it?