Jeremiah 17:5-10

The Voice

⁵     Cursed is the one who trusts in human strength and the abilities of mere mortals.
        His very heart strays from the Eternal.
⁶     He is like a little shrub in the desert that never grows;
        he will see no good thing come his way.
    He will live in a desert wasteland,
        a barren land of salt where no one lives.
⁷     But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone;
        the Eternal will be his confidence.
⁸     He is like a tree planted by water,
        sending out its roots beside the stream.
    It does not fear the heat or even drought.
        Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces.

⁹     The heart is most devious and incurably sick.
        Who can understand it?
¹⁰     It is I, the Eternal One, who probes the innermost heart
        and examines the innermost thoughts.
    I will compensate each person justly,
        according to his ways and by what his actions deserve.