Jeremiah 17
New American Standard Bible
The Deceitful Heart
17 The (A)sin of Judah is written with an (B)iron stylus;
With a diamond point it is (C)engraved on the tablet of their hearts
And on the horns of [a]their altars,
2 As they remember their (D)children,
So they remember their altars and their [b](E)Asherim
By (F)green trees on the high hills.
3 (G)Mountain of Mine in the countryside,
I will (H)turn over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder,
Your high places for sin throughout your borders.
4 And you will, even of yourself, (I)let go of your inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your (J)enemies
In the (K)land which you do not know;
For you have (L)kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“(M)Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes (N)flesh his [c]strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 For he will be like a (O)bush in the desert,
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A (P)land of salt that is not inhabited.
7 (Q)Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose (R)trust is the Lord.
8 For he will be like a (S)tree planted by the water
That extends its roots by a stream,
And does not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of (T)drought,
Nor cease to yield fruit.
9 “The (U)heart is more (V)deceitful than all else
And is desperately (W)sick;
Who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, (X)search the heart,
I test the [d]mind,
(Y)To give to each person according to his ways,
According to the [e]results of his deeds.
11 As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is a person who (Z)makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the middle of his days it will abandon him,
And in [f]the end he will be a (AA)fool.”
12 (AB)A glorious throne on high from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, the (AC)hope of Israel,
All who (AD)abandon You will be put to shame.
Those who turn [g]away on earth will be (AE)written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the Lord.
14 (AF)Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
(AG)Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my (AH)praise.
15 Look, they keep (AI)saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd following after You,
Nor have I longed for the disastrous day;
(AJ)You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips
Was in Your presence.
17 Do not be a (AK)terror to me;
You are my (AL)refuge in a day of disaster.
18 Let those who persecute me be (AM)put to shame, but as for me, (AN)let me not be put to shame;
Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.
(AO)Bring on them a day of disaster,
And crush them with double destruction!
The Sabbath Must Be Kept
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the [h]public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘(AP)Listen to the word of the Lord, you (AQ)kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: “(AR)Take care for yourselves, and (AS)do not carry any [i]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 (AT)nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I (AU)commanded your [j]forefathers. 23 Yet they (AV)did not listen or incline their ears, but (AW)stiffened their necks so as not to listen or accept discipline.
24 “But it will come about, if you (AX)give your attention to Me,” declares the Lord, “to (AY)bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, (AZ)but to keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25 (BA)then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and officials (BB)sitting 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 (BC)city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come in from the (BD)cities of Judah and from the areas surrounding Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the (BE)lowland, from the hill country, and from the (BF)Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord. 27 But (BG)if 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 (BH)I will set fire to its gates, and it will (BI)devour the palaces of Jerusalem and (BJ)not go out.”’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:1 As in ancient versions; MT your
- Jeremiah 17:2 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Jeremiah 17:5 Lit arm
- Jeremiah 17:10 Lit kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:10 Lit fruit
- Jeremiah 17:11 Lit his
- Jeremiah 17:13 Lit away from Me
- Jeremiah 17:19 Lit gate of the sons of the people
- Jeremiah 17:21 Or burden
- Jeremiah 17:22 Lit fathers
Jeremiah 17
Names of God Bible
17 The Lord says, “Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen.
It is engraved with a diamond point
on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars
and their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah
beside large trees on high hills
3 and on mountains in the open country.[a]
I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot.
I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin
throughout all your territory.
4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of.
I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger.
It will burn forever.
5 “This is what Yahweh says:
Cursed is the person who trusts humans,
who makes flesh and blood his strength
and whose heart turns away from Yahweh.
6 He will be like a bush in the wilderness.
He will not see when something good comes.
He will live in the dry places in the desert,
in a salty land where no one can live.
7 Blessed is the person who trusts Yahweh.
Yahweh will be his confidence.
8 He will be like a tree that is planted by water.
It will send its roots down to a stream.
It will not be afraid in the heat of summer.
Its leaves will turn green.
It will not be anxious during droughts.
It will not stop producing fruit.
9 “The human mind is the most deceitful of all things. It is incurable.
No one can understand how deceitful it is.
10 I, Yahweh, search minds and test hearts.
I will reward each person for what he has done.
I will reward him for the results of his actions.
11 A person who gets rich dishonestly is like a partridge
that hatches eggs it did not lay.
During his lifetime, he will lose his wealth.
In the end, he will be a godless fool.”
12 Our holy place is a glorious throne,
highly honored from the beginning.
13 O Yahweh, the Miqweh Yisrael, all who abandon you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in dust,
because they abandon Yahweh,
the fountain of life-giving water.
14 Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed.
Rescue me, and I will be rescued.
You are the one I praise.
15 People keep asking me,
“Where is the word of Yahweh?
Let it come.”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the day of destruction.
You know what came out of my mouth.
17 Do not terrorize me.
You are my refuge on the day of disaster.
18 Put my persecutors to shame,
but do not let me be put to shame.
Terrify them,
but do not let me be terrified.
Bring the day of disaster on them,
and destroy them completely.
The Blessing That Comes from Observing the Day of Worship as a Holy Day
19 This is what Yahweh said to me: Stand at People’s Gate, where the kings of Judah go in and out. Then stand at every gate in Jerusalem. 20 Tell everyone: “Listen to the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah, all the people of Judah, and all those who live in Jerusalem, and go through these gates. 21 This is what Yahweh says: Watch out! If you value your lives, do not carry anything on the day of worship or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring anything out of your homes on the day of worship. Do not do any work, but observe the day of worship as a holy day, as I told your ancestors. 23 Your ancestors did not obey me or pay attention to me. They were impossible to deal with and would not listen or accept discipline.
24 “Now,” declares Yahweh, “you must listen to me and not bring anything through the gates of this city on the day of worship. You must observe the day of worship as a holy day by not doing any work on it. 25 If you do this, then the kings and princes who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city. They and their princes will ride in chariots and on horses along with the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This city will always have people living in it.
26 “People will come from the cities of Judah, from all around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense. They will also bring thank offerings to Yahweh’s temple. 27 But you must listen to me and observe the day of worship as a holy day by not carrying anything through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of worship. If you don’t do this, I will set its gates on fire. The fire will burn down the palaces in Jerusalem, and you won’t be able to put it out.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “on my mountain.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.