Jeremiah 17-18
New King James Version
Judah’s Sin and Punishment
17 “The sin of Judah is (A)written with a (B)pen of iron;
With the point of a diamond it is (C)engraved
On the tablet of their heart,
And on the horns of your altars,
2 While their children remember
Their altars and their (D)wooden[a] images
By the green trees on the high hills.
3 O My mountain in the field,
I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures,
And your high places of sin within all your borders.
4 And you, even yourself,
Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you;
And I will cause you to serve your enemies
In (E)the land which you do not know;
For (F)you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever.”
5 Thus says the Lord:
(G)“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes (H)flesh his [b]strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be (I)like a shrub in the desert,
And (J)shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
(K)In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed(L) is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be (M)like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not [c]fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The (N)heart is deceitful above all things,
And [d]desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, (O)search the heart,
I test the [e]mind,
(P)Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
11 “As a partridge that [f]broods but does not hatch,
So is he who gets riches, but not by right;
It (Q)will leave him in the midst of his days,
And at his end he will be (R)a fool.”
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, (S)the hope of Israel,
(T)All who forsake You shall be ashamed.
“Those who depart from Me
Shall be (U)written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the Lord,
The (V)fountain of living waters.”
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For (W)You are my praise.
15 Indeed they say to me,
(X)“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 As for me, (Y)I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You,
Nor have I desired the woeful day;
You know what came out of my lips;
It was right there before You.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
(Z)You are my hope in the day of doom.
18 (AA)Let them be ashamed who persecute me,
But (AB)do not let me be put to shame;
Let them be dismayed,
But do not let me be dismayed.
Bring on them the day of doom,
And (AC)destroy[g] them with double destruction!
Hallow the Sabbath Day
19 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, (AD)‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: (AE)“Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I (AF)commanded your fathers. 23 (AG)But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but [h]made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
24 “And it shall be, (AH)if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the (AI)Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 (AJ)then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from (AK)the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from (AL)the [i]lowland, from the mountains and from (AM)the [j]South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing (AN)sacrifices of praise to the house of the Lord.
27 “But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then (AO)I will kindle a fire in its gates, (AP)and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be (AQ)quenched.” ’ ”
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the [k]wheel. 4 And the vessel that he [l]made of clay was [m]marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, (AR)can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, (AS)as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to (AT)pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 (AU)if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, (AV)I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
11 “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. (AW)Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings (AX)good.” ’ ”
God’s Warning Rejected
12 And they said, (AY)“That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one [n]obey the (AZ)dictates[o] of his evil heart.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(BA)“Ask now among the Gentiles,
Who has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel has done (BB)a very horrible thing.
14 Will a man [p]leave the snow water of Lebanon,
Which comes from the rock of the field?
Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?
15 “Because My people have forgotten (BC)Me,
They have burned incense to worthless idols.
And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
From the (BD)ancient paths,
To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
16 To make their land (BE)desolate and a perpetual (BF)hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And shake his head.
17 (BG)I will scatter them (BH)as with an east wind before the enemy;
(BI)I will [q]show them the back and not the face
In the day of their calamity.”
Jeremiah Persecuted
18 Then they said, (BJ)“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; (BK)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
19 Give heed to me, O Lord,
And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!
20 (BL)Shall evil be repaid for good?
For they have (BM)dug a pit for my life.
Remember that I (BN)stood before You
To speak good [r]for them,
To turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (BO)deliver up their children to the famine,
And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword;
Let their wives become widows
And (BP)bereaved of their children.
Let their men be put to death,
Their young men be slain
By the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
For they have dug a pit to take me,
And hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
(BQ)Provide no atonement for their iniquity,
Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
But let them be overthrown before You.
Deal thus with them
In the time of Your (BR)anger.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:2 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
- Jeremiah 17:5 Lit. arm
- Jeremiah 17:8 Qr., Tg. see
- Jeremiah 17:9 Or incurably sick
- Jeremiah 17:10 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:11 Sits on eggs
- Jeremiah 17:18 Lit. crush
- Jeremiah 17:23 Were stubborn
- Jeremiah 17:26 Heb. shephelah
- Jeremiah 17:26 Heb. Negev
- Jeremiah 18:3 Potter’s wheel
- Jeremiah 18:4 was making
- Jeremiah 18:4 ruined
- Jeremiah 18:12 Lit. do
- Jeremiah 18:12 stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 18:14 forsake
- Jeremiah 18:17 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT look them in
- Jeremiah 18:20 concerning
Psalm 118:25-29
New King James Version
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 (A)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord,
And He has given us (B)light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
(C)You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Proverbs 27:11-12
New King James Version
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
(A)That I may answer him who reproaches me.
12 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are (B)punished.
1 Thessalonians 3
New King James Version
Concern for Their Faith
3 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, 2 and sent (A)Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, 3 (B)that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that (C)we are appointed to this. 4 (D)For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, (E)lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and (F)our labor might be in vain.
Encouraged by Timothy
6 (G)But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, (H)as we also to see you— 7 therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress (I)we were comforted concerning you by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you (J)stand fast in the Lord.
9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face (K)and perfect what is lacking in your faith?
Prayer for the Church
11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, (L)direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and (M)abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish (N)your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
