1‘Judah’s sin is carved with an iron tool. It is written with the flint point of the tool. It is carved on the tablets of their hearts. It is written on the horns that stick out from the corners of their altars.2Even their children offer sacrifices to other gods on those altars. They use the poles that were made to worship the female god named Asherah. They worship strange gods beside the green trees and on the high hills.3I will give away my holy Mount Zion to the Babylonians. Your enemies will carry off your wealth and all your treasures. I will give away your high places. That will happen because you have sinned. You have done it throughout your country.4You will lose the land I gave you. And it will be your own fault. I will make you slaves to your enemies. You will serve them in a land you didn’t know about before. You have set my anger on fire. It will burn for ever.’5The LORD says, ‘Those who trust in human beings are under my curse. They depend on human strength. Their hearts turn away from me.6They will be like a bush in a dry and empty land. They will not enjoy success when it comes. They will live in dry places in the desert. It is a land of salt where no one else lives.7‘But I will bless anyone who trusts in me. I will do good things for the person who depends on me.8They will be like a tree planted near water. It sends out its roots beside a stream. It is not afraid when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It does not worry when there is no rain. It always bears fruit.’9A human heart is more dishonest than anything else. It can’t be healed. Who can understand it?10The LORD says, ‘I look deep down inside human hearts. I see what is in people’s minds. I reward each person in keeping with their conduct. I bless them based on what they have done.’11Some people get rich by doing sinful things. They are like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay. When their lives are half over, their riches will desert them. In the end they will prove how foolish they have been.12Our temple is where the LORD’s glorious throne is. From the beginning it has been high and lifted up.13LORD, you are Israel’s only hope. Everyone who deserts you will be put to shame. The names of those who turn away from you will be listed among the dead. LORD, they have deserted you. You are the spring of water that gives life.14LORD, heal me. Then I shall be healed. Save me from my enemies. Then I shall be saved. You are the one I praise.15They keep saying to me, ‘What has happened to the message the LORD gave you? Let it come true right now!’16I haven’t run away from being the shepherd of your people. You know I haven’t wanted the day of Jerusalem’s fall to come. You are aware of every word that comes from my lips.17Don’t be a terror to me. When I’m in trouble, I go to you for safety.18Let those who attack me be put to shame. But keep me from shame. Let them be terrified. But keep me from terror. Bring the day of trouble on them. Destroy them once and for all.
Keep the Sabbath day holy
19The LORD said to me, ‘Go. Stand at the city gate called the Gate of the People. That is where the kings of Judah go in and out. Then stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem.20Say, “Listen to the LORD’s message, you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. You always come through these gates.21The LORD says, ‘Make sure you do not carry a load on the Sabbath day. Do not bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.22Do not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Do not do any work on that day. Instead, keep the Sabbath day holy. Do as I commanded your people of long ago.23But they did not listen. They did not pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They would not listen or pay attention when I corrected them.24Be careful to obey me,’ announces the LORD. ‘Do not bring a load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day. Instead, keep the Sabbath day holy. Do not do any work on it.25Then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses. The people of Judah and Jerusalem will come along with them. And this city will always have people living in it.26Some will come from the towns of Judah. And some will come in from the villages around Jerusalem. Others will come from the territory of Benjamin. And others will come in from the western hills. Still others will come from the central hill country and the Negev Desert. All of them will bring burnt offerings and sacrifices. They will come bringing grain offerings, incense and thank-offerings. They will take all these offerings to my house.27But what if you do not obey me? Suppose you do not keep the Sabbath day holy. And suppose you carry a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. Then I will start a fire that can’t be put out. It will begin at the gates of Jerusalem. It will destroy its mighty towers.’ ” ’
Jeremiah 17
English Standard Version
The Sin of Judah
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, (Ex 27:2; Job 19:24; Ps 118:27; Pr 3:3; Pr 7:3; 2Co 3:3)2while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, (De 16:21; Jud 3:7; Isa 1:29; Jer 2:20; Jer 19:5)3on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. (Ps 48:1; Ps 87:1; Isa 2:3; Jer 15:13)4You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” (De 32:22; Jer 15:14)5Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength,[1] whose heart turns away from the Lord. (2Ch 32:8; Ps 146:3)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. (De 29:23; Job 20:17; Job 39:6; Ps 34:12; Jer 29:32; Jer 48:6)7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. (Ps 2:12; Ps 25:2; Ps 34:8; Ps 71:5; Ps 125:1)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.” (Ps 1:3; Eze 47:12)9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?10“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind,[2] to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (1Sa 16:7; 1Ch 28:9; Job 34:11; Ps 62:12; Ps 139:23; Jer 11:20; Jer 32:19; Ro 8:27)11Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool. (1Sa 26:20; Ps 39:6; Ps 55:23; Lu 12:20)12A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.13O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you[3] shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water. (Jos 24:20; Ps 73:27; Isa 1:28; Jer 1:16; Jer 2:13; Jer 14:8; Lu 10:20; Joh 4:10; Joh 4:14)
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. (De 10:21; Ps 6:2)15Behold, they say to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come!” (Isa 5:19; 2Pe 3:4)16I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face. (Ps 40:9; Ps 139:4; Jer 15:15)17Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. (Jer 16:19)18Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction! (Ps 35:4; Ps 35:8; Ps 40:14; Jer 11:20)
Keep the Sabbath Holy
19Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, (Jer 13:13)20and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. (Jer 17:19)21Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. (Ne 13:15; Joh 5:10)22And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. (Ex 20:8; Ex 23:12; Ex 31:13; Nu 15:32; De 5:12; Isa 56:2; Isa 58:13; Eze 20:12; Eze 20:20)23Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. (2Ch 30:8; Jer 5:3; Jer 7:24; Jer 7:26; Jer 11:10; Ac 7:51)24“But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, (Jer 17:21; Jer 17:22)25then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. (Jer 22:4)26And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. (Ge 13:1; Le 7:12; Le 22:29; 2Ch 33:16; Ps 107:22; Ps 116:17; Jer 32:44; Jer 33:13; Zec 7:7)27But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’” (2Ki 25:9; Jer 7:20; Jer 17:21; Jer 17:22; Jer 21:14; Jer 43:12; Jer 49:27; Jer 50:32; Jer 52:13; La 4:11; Am 1:14)