The Persistent Sin of Judah

17 The sin of Judah is written
with an iron stylus.(A)
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts(B)
and on the horns of their[a] altars,
while their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills—
My mountains in the countryside.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder
because of the sin of your high places[b]
in all your borders.(C)
You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance
that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know,(D)
for you have set My anger on fire;(E)
it will burn forever.

Curse and Blessing

This is what the Lord says:

The man who trusts in mankind,(F)
who makes human flesh his strength(G)
and turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.
He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;(H)
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.(I)
The man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.(J)
He will be like a tree planted by water:(K)
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.

The Deceitful Heart

The heart is more deceitful than anything else,
and incurable—who can understand it?(L)
10 I, Yahweh, examine the mind,
I test the heart[c](M)
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve.(N)
11 He who makes a fortune unjustly
is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
In the middle of his days
his riches will abandon him,
so in the end he will be a fool.(O)

12 A throne of glory(P)
on high(Q) from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.(R)
13 Lord, the hope of Israel,(S)
all who abandon You
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from Me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the Lord, the fountain of living water.(T)

Jeremiah’s Plea

14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for You are my praise.(U)
15 Hear how they keep challenging me,(V)
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 But I have not run away from being Your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the fatal day.
You know my words were spoken in Your presence.
17 Don’t become a terror to me.
You are my refuge(W) in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,(X)
but don’t let me be put to shame.
Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster;(Y)
shatter them with total[d] destruction.

Observing the Sabbath

19 This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem. 20 Announce to them: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.(Z) 22 You must not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work,(AA) but you must consecrate the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors.(AB) 23 They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate,(AC) not listening or accepting discipline.

24 “However, if you listen to Me, says the Lord, and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day and consecrate the Sabbath day and do no work on it, 25 kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses(AD) with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever. 26 Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev(AE) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifice, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 If you do not listen to Me to consecrate the Sabbath day by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates,(AF) and it will consume the citadels(AG) of Jerusalem(AH) and not be extinguished.”(AI)

Parable of the Potter

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down at once to the potter’s house;(AJ) there I will reveal My words to you.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.[e] But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.(AK)

The word of the Lord came to me: “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.(AL) At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.(AM) However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.(AN) At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom.(AO) 10 However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.(AP) 11 So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.(AQ) 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.(AR) We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

Deluded Israel

13 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Ask among the nations,
Who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.(AS)
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags?
Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?
15 Yet My people have forgotten Me.(AT)
They burn incense to false idols
that make them stumble in their ways
on the ancient roads(AU)
and walk on new paths, not the highway.
16 They have made their land a horror,(AV)
a perpetual object of scorn;[f](AW)
everyone who passes by it will be horrified(AX)
and shake his head.(AY)
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind.(AZ)
I will show them[g] My back and not My face
on the day of their calamity.

Plot against Jeremiah

18 Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah,(BA) for instruction will never be lost from the priest,(BB) or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet.(BC) Come, let’s denounce him[h] and pay no attention to all his words.”

19 Pay attention to me, Lord.
Hear what my opponents are saying!(BD)
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.(BE)
Remember how I stood before You
to speak good on their behalf,
to turn Your anger from them.
21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine,(BF)
and pour the sword’s power on them.
Let their wives become childless and widowed,
their husbands slain by deadly disease,[i]
their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses
when You suddenly bring raiders against them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.(BG)
23 But You, Lord, know
all their deadly plots against me.
Do not wipe out their guilt;(BH)
do not blot out their sin before You.
Let them be forced to stumble before You;
deal with them in the time of Your anger.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:1 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read your
  2. Jeremiah 17:3 Lit plunder, your high places because of sin
  3. Jeremiah 17:10 Lit kidneys
  4. Jeremiah 17:18 Lit double
  5. Jeremiah 18:3 Lit pair of stones
  6. Jeremiah 18:16 Lit hissing
  7. Jeremiah 18:17 LXX, Lat, Syr, Tg; MT reads will look at them
  8. Jeremiah 18:18 Lit let’s strike him with the tongue
  9. Jeremiah 18:21 Lit by death

Psalm 35

Prayer for Victory

Davidic.

Oppose my opponents, Lord;
fight those who fight me.(A)
Take Your shields—large and small—
and come to my aid.(B)
Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers,
and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”(C)

Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who plan to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.(D)
Let them be like chaff in the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away.(E)
Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(F)
They hid their net for me without cause;
they dug a pit for me without cause.(G)
Let ruin come on him unexpectedly,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his ruin.(H)

Then I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will delight in His deliverance.(I)
10 My very bones will say,
Lord, who is like You,(J)
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”(K)

11 Malicious witnesses come forward;
they question me about things I do not know.(L)
12 They repay me evil for good,
making me desolate.(M)
13 Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.[a](N)
14 I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning a mother.(O)
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
they gathered against me.
Assailants I did not know
tore at me and did not stop.(P)
16 With godless mockery[b]
they gnashed their teeth at me.(Q)

17 Lord, how long will You look on?(R)
Rescue my life from their ravages,
my only one from the young lions.(S)
18 I will praise You in the great congregation;
I will exalt You among many people.(T)
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me;
do not let those who hate me without cause(U)
look at me maliciously.(V)
20 For they do not speak in friendly ways,
but contrive deceitful schemes[c]
against those who live peacefully in the land.(W)
21 They open their mouths wide against me and say,
“Aha, aha! We saw it!”[d](X)

22 You saw it, Lord; do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me.(Y)
23 Wake up and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!(Z)
24 Vindicate me, Lord my God,
in keeping with Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.(AA)
25 Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! Just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say,
“We have swallowed him up!”(AB)
26 Let those who rejoice at my misfortune
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and reproach.(AC)

27 Let those who want my vindication
shout for joy and be glad;
let them continually say,
“The Lord be exalted.
He takes pleasure in His servant’s well-being.”(AD)
28 And my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness,
Your praise all day long.(AE)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 35:13 Lit prayer returned to my chest
  2. Psalm 35:16 Hb obscure
  3. Psalm 35:20 Lit but devise deceitful words
  4. Psalm 35:21 Lit Our eyes saw!

Our Apostle and High Priest

Therefore, holy brothers and companions in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession;(A) He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was in all God’s household. For Jesus is considered worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder has more honor than the house. Now every house is built by someone, but the One who built everything is God.(B) Moses was faithful as a servant(C) in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future. But Christ was faithful as a Son over His household. And we are that household if we hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope.[a](D)

Warning against Unbelief

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
and saw My works 10 for 40 years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation
and said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
and they have not known My ways.”
11 So I swore in My anger,
“They will not enter My rest.”(E)[b]

12 Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. 13 But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.(F) 14 For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality[c] that we had at the start.(G) 15 As it is said:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.(H)[d]

16 For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses?(I) 17 And who was He provoked with for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?(J) 18 And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:6 Other mss add firm to the end
  2. Hebrews 3:11 Ps 95:7-11
  3. Hebrews 3:14 Or confidence
  4. Hebrews 3:15 Ps 95:7-8

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