17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,^(A)
    inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts^(B)
    and on the horns^(C) of their altars.
² Even their children remember
    their altars and Asherah poles^[a](D)
beside the spreading trees
    and on the high hills.^(E)
3 My mountain in the land
    and your^[b] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,^(F)
    together with your high places,^(G)
    because of sin throughout your country.^(H)
4 Through your own fault you will lose
    the inheritance^(I) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies^(J)
    in a land^(K) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
    and it will burn^(L) forever.”

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(M)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(N)
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places^(O) of the desert,
    in a salt^(P) land where no one lives.

⁷ “But blessed^(Q) is the one who trusts^(R) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸ They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.^(S)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought^(T)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”^(U)

⁹ The heart^(V) is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart^(W)
    and examine the mind,^(X)
to reward^(Y) each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”^(Z)

¹¹ Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
    are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
    and in the end they will prove to be fools.^(AA)

¹² A glorious throne,^(AB) exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³ Lord, you are the hope^(AC) of Israel;
    all who forsake^(AD) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^(AE)
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.^(AF)

¹⁴ Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;^(AG)
    save^(AH) me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.^(AI)
15 They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”^(AJ)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips^(AK) is open before you.
¹⁷ Do not be a terror^(AL) to me;
    you are my refuge^(AM) in the day of disaster.^(AN)
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
    but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction.^(AO)

“Inquire among the nations:
    Who has ever heard anything like this?^(BV)
A most horrible^(BW) thing has been done
    by Virgin^(BX) Israel.
¹⁴ Does the snow of Lebanon
    ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
    ever stop flowing?^[d]
15 Yet my people have forgotten^(BY) me;
    they burn incense^(BZ) to worthless idols,^(CA)
which made them stumble^(CB) in their ways,
    in the ancient paths.^(CC)
They made them walk in byways,
    on roads not built up.^(CD)
16 Their land will be an object of horror^(CE)
    and of lasting scorn;^(CF)
all who pass by will be appalled^(CG)
    and will shake their heads.^(CH)
17 Like a wind^(CI) from the east,
    I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face^(CJ)
    in the day of their disaster.”

¹⁹ Listen to me, Lord;
    hear what my accusers^(CP) are saying!
²⁰ Should good be repaid with evil?^(CQ)
    Yet they have dug a pit^(CR) for me.
Remember that I stood^(CS) before you
    and spoke in their behalf^(CT)
    to turn your wrath away from them.
²¹ So give their children over to famine;^(CU)
    hand them over to the power of the sword.^(CV)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;^(CW)
    let their men be put to death,
    their young men^(CX) slain by the sword in battle.
²² Let a cry^(CY) be heard from their houses
    when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit^(CZ) to capture me
    and have hidden snares^(DA) for my feet.
²³ But you, Lord, know
    all their plots to kill^(DB) me.
Do not forgive^(DC) their crimes
    or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
    deal with them in the time of your anger.^(DD)

⁴ May those who seek my life^(I)
    be disgraced^(J) and put to shame;^(K)
may those who plot my ruin
    be turned back^(L) in dismay.
⁵ May they be like chaff^(M) before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord^(N) driving them away;
⁶ may their path be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷ Since they hid their net^(O) for me without cause^(P)
    and without cause dug a pit^(Q) for me,
⁸ may ruin overtake them by surprise—^(R)
    may the net they hid entangle them,
    may they fall into the pit,^(S) to their ruin.
⁹ Then my soul will rejoice^(T) in the Lord
    and delight in his salvation.^(U)
10 My whole being will exclaim,
    “Who is like you,^(V) Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong^(W) for them,
    the poor and needy^(X) from those who rob them.”

¹¹ Ruthless witnesses^(Y) come forward;
    they question me on things I know nothing about.
¹² They repay me evil for good^(Z)
    and leave me like one bereaved.
¹³ Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth^(AA)
    and humbled myself with fasting.^(AB)
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
¹⁴     I went about mourning^(AC)
    as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
    as though weeping for my mother.
¹⁵ But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;^(AD)
    assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
    They slandered^(AE) me without ceasing.
¹⁶ Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;^[b](AF)
    they gnashed their teeth^(AG) at me.

¹⁷ How long,^(AH) Lord, will you look on?
    Rescue me from their ravages,
    my precious life^(AI) from these lions.^(AJ)
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;^(AK)
    among the throngs^(AL) I will praise you.^(AM)
19 Do not let those gloat over me
    who are my enemies^(AN) without cause;
do not let those who hate me without reason^(AO)
    maliciously wink the eye.^(AP)
20 They do not speak peaceably,
    but devise false accusations^(AQ)
    against those who live quietly in the land.
²¹ They sneer^(AR) at me and say, “Aha! Aha!^(AS)
    With our own eyes we have seen it.”

²² Lord, you have seen^(AT) this; do not be silent.
    Do not be far^(AU) from me, Lord.
²³ Awake,^(AV) and rise^(AW) to my defense!
    Contend^(AX) for me, my God and Lord.
²⁴ Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God;
    do not let them gloat^(AY) over me.
²⁵ Do not let them think, “Aha,^(AZ) just what we wanted!”
    or say, “We have swallowed him up.”^(BA)

²⁶ May all who gloat^(BB) over my distress^(BC)
    be put to shame^(BD) and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me^(BE)
    be clothed with shame and disgrace.
²⁷ May those who delight in my vindication^(BF)
    shout for joy^(BG) and gladness;
may they always say, “The Lord be exalted,
    who delights^(BH) in the well-being of his servant.”^(BI)

²⁸ My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,^(BJ)
    your praises all day long.^(BK)

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸     do not harden your hearts^(O)
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.^(P)
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,^(Q)
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ^(R)”^[b](S)

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”^[c](Y)