Font Size
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New American Standard Bible
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New American Standard Bible
5 This is what the Lord says:
“(A)Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes (B)flesh his [a]strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 For he will be like a (C)bush in the desert,
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A (D)land of salt that is not inhabited.
7 (E)Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose (F)trust is the Lord.
8 For he will be like a (G)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 (H)drought,
Nor cease to yield fruit.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:5 Lit arm
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New English Translation
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New English Translation
Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord[a]
5 The Lord says,
“I will put a curse on people
who trust in mere human beings,
who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength,[b]
and whose hearts[c] have turned away from the Lord.
6 They will be like a shrub[d] in the arid rift valley.[e]
They will not experience good things even when they happen.
It will be as though they were growing in the stony wastes in the wilderness,[f]
in a salt land where no one can live.
7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me.[g]
8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream
whose roots spread out toward the water.
It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.
It does not stop bearing fruit.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:5 sn Verses 5-11 are a collection of wisdom-like sayings (cf. Ps 1) that set forth the theme of the two ways and their consequences. It has as its background the blessings and the curses of Deut 28 and the challenge to faith in Deut 29-30, which climaxes in Deut 30:15-20. The nation is sinful, and God is weary of showing them patience. However, there is hope for individuals within the nation if they will trust in him.
- Jeremiah 17:5 tn Heb “who make flesh their arm.” The “arm” is the symbol of strength, and the flesh is the symbol of mortal man in relation to the omnipotent God. The translation “mere flesh and blood” reflects this.
- Jeremiah 17:5 sn In the psychology of ancient Hebrew thought the heart was the center not only of the emotions but of the thoughts and motivations. It was also the seat of moral conduct (cf. its placement in the middle of the discussion of moral conduct in Prov 4:20-27, i.e., in v. 23).
- Jeremiah 17:6 tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131.
- Jeremiah 17:6 tn The עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah) refers to the rift valley. As a geographic feature it extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba, but individual passages typically refer to only a portion of it. The areas of the rift valley around the Dead Sea and to the south are known to be arid and inhospitable.
- Jeremiah 17:6 tn A מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) receives less than twelve inches of rain per year and therefore cannot support trees and has little plant life.
- Jeremiah 17:7 tn Heb “Blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in the Lord.” However, because this is a statement of the Lord and the translation chooses to show that the blessing comes from him, the first person is substituted for the divine name.
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New Living Translation
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New Living Translation
Wisdom from the Lord
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength
and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
in an uninhabited salty land.
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New International Version
Jeremiah 17:5-8
New International Version
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(A)
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(B)
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(C) of the desert,
in a salt(D) land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed(E) is the one who trusts(F) 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.(G)
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought(H)
and never fails to bear fruit.”(I)
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.