Jeremiah 17:1-11
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.”
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 17:1-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judah’s Sin and Punishment
17 The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen; with a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars,(A) 2 while their children remember their altars and their sacred poles[a] beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your sin[b] throughout all your territory. 4 By your own act you shall lose the heritage that I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.(B)
5 Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.(C)
6 They shall be like a shrub in the desert
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.(D)
7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.(E)
8 They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.(F)
9 The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?(G)
10 I the Lord test the mind
and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.(H)
11 Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay,
so are all who amass wealth unjustly;
in midlife it will leave them,
and at their end they will prove to be fools.
Jeremiah 17:1-11
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
17 The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond, it is graven upon the table of their heart, upon the horns of their altars.
2 When their children shall remember their altars, and their groves, and their green trees upon the high mountains,
3 Sacrificing in the field: I will give thy strength, and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin in all thy borders.
4 And thou shalt be left stripped of thy inheritance, which I gave thee: and I will make thee serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not: because thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath, it shall burn for ever.
5 Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert in a salt land, and not inhabited.
7 Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence.
8 And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots towards moisture: and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit.
9 The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it?
10 I am the Lord who search the heart and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices.
11 As the partridge hath hatched eggs which she did not lay: so is he that hath gathered riches, and not by right: in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and in his latter end he shall be a fool.
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Jeremiah 17:1-11
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!
* * *
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson