Jeremiah 17
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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,
2 while their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills—
3 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)
4 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
5 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.
6 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)
7 The man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.(J)
8 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
9 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)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:1 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read your
- Jeremiah 17:3 Lit plunder, your high places because of sin
- Jeremiah 17:10 Lit kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:18 Lit double
Jeremiah 17
The Message
The Heart Is Hopelessly Dark and Deceitful
17 1-2 “Judah’s sin is engraved
with a steel chisel,
A steel chisel with a diamond point—
engraved on their granite hearts,
engraved on the stone corners of their altars.
The evidence against them is plain to see:
sex-and-religion altars and sacred sex shrines
Anywhere there’s a grove of trees,
anywhere there’s an available hill.
3-4 “I’ll use your mountains as roadside stands
for giving away everything you have.
All your ‘things’ will serve as reparations
for your sins all over the country.
You’ll lose your gift of land,
The inheritance I gave you.
I’ll make you slaves of your enemies
in a far-off and strange land.
My anger is hot and blazing and fierce,
and no one will put it out.”
* * *
5-6 God’s Message:
“Cursed is the strong one
who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
and sets God aside as dead weight.
He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
in a land where nothing grows.
7-8 “But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
bearing fresh fruit every season.
* * *
9-10 “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be.”
* * *
11 Like a cowbird that cheats by laying its eggs
in another bird’s nest
Is the person who gets rich by cheating.
When the eggs hatch, the deceit is exposed.
What a fool he’ll look like then!
* * *
12-13 From early on your Sanctuary was set high,
a throne of glory, exalted!
O God, you’re the hope of Israel.
All who leave you end up as fools,
Deserters with nothing to show for their lives,
who walk off from God, fountain of living waters—
and wind up dead!
* * *
14-18 God, pick up the pieces.
Put me back together again.
You are my praise!
Listen to how they talk about me:
“So where’s this ‘Word of God’?
We’d like to see something happen!”
But it wasn’t my idea to call for Doomsday.
I never wanted trouble.
You know what I’ve said.
It’s all out in the open before you.
Don’t add to my troubles.
Give me some relief!
Let those who harass me be harassed, not me.
Let them be disgraced, not me.
Bring down upon them the day of doom.
Lower the boom. Boom!
Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
19-20 God’s Message to me: “Go stand in the People’s Gate, the one used by Judah’s kings as they come and go, and then proceed in turn to all the gates of Jerusalem. Tell them, ‘Listen, you kings of Judah, listen to God’s Message—and all you people who go in and out of these gates, you listen!
21-23 “‘This is God’s Message. Be careful, if you care about your lives, not to desecrate the Sabbath by turning it into just another workday, lugging stuff here and there. Don’t use the Sabbath to do business as usual. Keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. They never did it, as you know. They paid no attention to what I said and went about their own business, refusing to be guided or instructed by me.
24-26 “‘But now, take seriously what I tell you. Quit desecrating the Sabbath by busily going about your own work, and keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing business as usual. Then kings from the time of David and their officials will continue to ride through these gates on horses or in chariots. The people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem will continue to pass through them, too. Jerusalem will always be filled with people. People will stream in from all over Judah, from the province of Benjamin, from the Jerusalem suburbs, from foothills and mountains and deserts. They’ll come to worship, bringing all kinds of offerings—animals, grains, incense, expressions of thanks—into the Sanctuary of God.
27 “‘But if you won’t listen to me, won’t keep the Sabbath holy, won’t quit using the Sabbath for doing your own work, busily going in and out of the city gates on your self-important business, then I’ll burn the gates down. In fact, I’ll burn the whole city down, palaces and all, with a fire nobody will be able to put out!’”
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson