Jeremiah 17

Judah’s Sin and Punishment

17“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.H2403H3063H3789H5842H1270H6856H8068H2790H3871H3820H7161H41962Even their children go to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill.H1121H2142H4196H842H7488H6086H1364H13893So 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.H2042H7704H5414H2428H214H957H1116H2403H13664The 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.”isdom from the LordH8058H5159H5414H5647H341H776H3045H6919H784H639H3344H5704H5769

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.H559H3068H779H1397H982H120H7760H1320H2220H3820H5493H30686They 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.H6199H6160H7200H2896H935H7931H2788H4057H4420H776H34277“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.H1288H1397H982H3068H4009H30688They 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.H6086H8362H4325H7971H8328H3105H7200H2527H935H5929H7488H1672H8141H1226H4185H6213H65299“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?H3820H6121H605H304510But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”H3068H2713H3820H974H3629H5414H376H1870H6529H4611

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.H7124H1716H3205H6213H6239H4941H5800H2677H3117H319H503612But we worship at your throne—eternal, high, and glorious!H3519H4791H3678H7223H4725H472013O 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.H3068H4723H3478H5800H954H3249H5493H3789H776H5800H3068H4726H2416H432514O 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!H7495H3068H7495H3467H3467H841615People scoff at me and say, “What is this ‘message from the Lord’ you talk about? Why don’t your predictions come true?”H559H1697H3068H93516Lord, 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.H213H7462H310H183H605H3117H3045H4161H8193H5227H644017Lord, don’t terrorize me! You alone are my hope in the day of disaster.H4288H4268H3117H745118Bring 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!H954H7291H954H2865H2865H935H3117H7451H7665H4932H7670

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.H559H3068H1980H5975H8179H1121H5971H4428H3063H935H3318H8179H338920Say 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.H559H8085H1697H3068H4428H3063H3063H3427H3389H935H817921This is what the Lord says: Listen to my warning! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day.H559H3068H8104H5315H5375H4853H7676H3117H935H8179H338922Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors,H3318H4853H1004H7676H3117H6213H4399H6942H7676H3117H6680H123but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline.H8085H5186H241H6203H7185H8085H3947H414824“‘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,H8085H8085H5002H3068H935H4853H8179H5892H7676H3117H6942H7676H3117H6213H1115H439925then 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.H935H8179H5892H4428H8269H3427H3678H1732H7392H7393H5483H8269H376H3063H3427H3389H5892H3427H576926And 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.H935H5892H3063H5439H3389H776H1144H8219H2022H5045H935H5930H2077H4503H3828H935H8426H1004H306827“‘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.’”H8085H6942H7676H3117H5375H4853H935H8179H3389H7676H3117H3341H784H8179H398H759H3389H3518