Jeremiah 17
The Deceitful Heart
17The asin of Judah is written down with an biron stylus;With a diamond point it is cengraved upon the tablet of their heartAnd on the horns of 1their altars,2As they remember their achildren,So they remember their altars and their 1,bAsherimBy cgreen trees on the high hills.3O amountain of Mine in the countryside,I will bgive over your wealth and all your treasures for plunder,Your high places for sin throughout your borders.4And you will, even of yourself, alet go of your inheritanceThat I gave you;And I will make you serve your benemiesIn the cland which you do not know,For you have dkindled a fire in My angerWhich will burn forever.5Thus says Yahweh, “aCursed is the man who trusts in mankindAnd makes bflesh his 1strength,And whose heart turns away from Yahweh.
6“And he will be like a ajuniper in the desertAnd will not see when prosperity comes,But will dwell in stony wastes in the wilderness,A bland of salt 1which is not inhabited.7“aBlessed is the man who trusts in YahwehAnd whose btrust is Yahweh.8“And he will be like a atree planted by the water,That sends forth its roots by a streamAnd will not fear when the heat comes;But its leaves will be green,And it will not be anxious in a year of bdroughtNor refrain from yielding fruit.9“The aheart is more bdeceitful than all elseAnd is 1desperately csick;Who can know it?10“I, Yahweh, asearch the heart;I test the 1inmost being,Even bto give to each man according to his ways,According to the fruit of his deeds.11“As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,So is he who amakes a fortune, but unjustly;In the midst of his days it will forsake him,And in 1the end he will be a bwicked fool.”12aA glorious throne on high from the beginningIs the place of our sanctuary.13O Yahweh, the ahope of Israel,All who bforsake You will be put to shame.Those who turn 1away on earth will be cwritten downBecause they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even Yahweh.14aHeal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed;bSave me and I will be saved,For You are my cpraise.15Behold, they keep asaying to me,“Where is the word of Yahweh?Let it come now!”16But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You,Nor have I longed for the 1sickening day;aYou Yourself know that the utterance of my lipsWas in Your presence.17Do not be a aterror to me;You are my brefuge in the day of calamity.18Let those who pursue me be aput to shame, but as for me, blet me not be put to shame;Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.cBring on them a day of calamity,And 1crush them with twofold 2crushing!Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
19Thus Yahweh said to me, “Go and stand in the 1public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say to them, ‘aListen to the word of Yahweh, bkings of Judah and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates: 21‘Thus says Yahweh, “aTake care of yourselves, and bdo not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22“You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day anor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I bcommanded your fathers. 23“Yet they adid not listen or incline their ears, but bstiffened their necks in order not to listen or receive discipline.
24“But it will be, if you alisten carefully to Me,” declares Yahweh, “to bbring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, cbut to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25athen there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes 1,bsitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this ccity will be inhabited forever. 26“And they will come in from the acities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the 1,bShephelah, from the hill country, and from the cNegev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of Yahweh. 27“But aif you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then bI will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will cdevour the palaces of Jerusalem and dnot be quenched.”’”