Jeremiah 17:5-22:13
English Standard Version
5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man (A)who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,[a]
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 (B)He is like a shrub in the desert,
(C)and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in (D)an uninhabited salt land.
7 (E)“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
(F)whose trust is the Lord.
8 (G)He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 (H)“I the Lord search the heart
(I)and test the mind,[b]
(J)to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11 Like the (K)partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is (L)he who gets riches but not by justice;
(M)in the midst of his days they will leave him,
(N)and at his end he will be a fool.
12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, (O)the hope of Israel,
(P)all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you[c] (Q)shall be written in the earth,
for (R)they have forsaken (S)the Lord, the fountain of living water.
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 (T)Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for (U)you are my praise.
15 (V)Behold, they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of sickness.
(W)You know (X)what came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
17 Be not a terror to me;
(Y)you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 (Z)Let those be put to shame who persecute me,
but let me not be put to shame;
(AA)let them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
(AB)bring upon them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction!
Keep the Sabbath Holy
19 Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which (AC)the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, (AD)you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and (AE)do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath (AF)or do any work, but (AG)keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet (AH)they did not listen or incline their ear, (AI)but stiffened their neck, that they (AJ)might not hear and receive instruction.
24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and (AK)bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but (AL)keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then (AM)there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit 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 city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from (AN)the cities of Judah (AO)and the places around Jerusalem, (AP)from the land of Benjamin, (AQ)from the Shephelah, from the hill country, (AR)and from (AS)the Negeb, bringing (AT)burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and (AU)bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to (AV)keep the Sabbath day holy, (AW)and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will (AX)kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall (AY)devour the palaces of Jerusalem and (AZ)shall not be quenched.’”
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to (BA)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear[d] my words.” 3 So I went down to (BB)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was (BC)spoiled in the potter's hand, and (BD)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, (BE)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. (BF)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will (BG)pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, (BH)turns from its evil, (BI)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will (BJ)build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. (BK)Return, every one from his evil way, and (BL)amend your ways and your deeds.’
12 “But they say, (BM)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to (BN)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore thus says the Lord:
(BO)Ask among the nations,
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done (BP)a very horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?[e]
Do the mountain waters run dry,[f]
the cold flowing streams?
15 (BQ)But my people have forgotten me;
they make offerings to (BR)false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
(BS)in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
(BT)not the highway,
16 making their land (BU)a horror,
a thing (BV)to be hissed at forever.
(BW)Everyone who passes by it is horrified
(BX)and shakes his head.
17 (BY)Like the east wind (BZ)I will scatter them
before the enemy.
(CA)I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.”
18 Then they said, (CB)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, (CC)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. (CD)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”
19 Hear me, O Lord,
and (CE)listen to the voice of my adversaries.
20 (CF)Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet (CG)they have dug a pit for my life.
(CH)Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (CI)deliver up their children to famine;
give them over to the power of the sword;
let their wives become childless (CJ)and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
22 (CK)May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!
For (CL)they have dug a pit to take me
(CM)and laid snares for my feet.
23 Yet (CN)you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
(CO)Forgive not their iniquity,
nor blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
The Broken Flask
19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy (CP)a potter's earthenware (CQ)flask, and take some of (CR)the elders of the people and some of (CS)the elders of the priests, 2 and go out (CT)to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, (CU)‘Hear the word of the Lord, (CV)O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that (CW)the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 (CX)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; (CY)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 (CZ)and have built the high places of Baal (DA)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, (DB)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6 therefore, (DC)behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or (DD)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place (DE)I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, (DF)and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. (DG)I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city (DH)a horror, (DI)a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 (DJ)And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor (DK)in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’
10 “Then (DL)you shall break (DM)the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, (DN)as one breaks a potter's vessel, (DO)so that it can never be mended. (DP)Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city (DQ)like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—(DR)all the houses on whose (DS)roofs offerings have been offered (DT)to all the host of heaven, and (DU)drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled (DV)like the place of Topheth.’”
14 Then Jeremiah came from (DW)Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, (DX)and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, (DY)because they have stiffened their neck, (DZ)refusing to hear my words.”
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
20 Now (EA)Pashhur the priest, the son of (EB)Immer, who was (EC)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then (ED)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him (EE)in the stocks that were in the upper (EF)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when (EG)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name (EH)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you (EI)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, (EJ)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its (EK)prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, (EL)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, (EM)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, (EN)you have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
(EO)you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
(EP)I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, (EQ)“Violence and destruction!”
For (ER)the word of the Lord has become for me
(ES)a reproach and (ET)derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
(EU)there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and (EV)I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 (EW)For I hear many whispering.
(EX)Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! (EY)Let us denounce him!”
say all my (EZ)close friends,
(FA)watching for (FB)my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then (FC)we can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But (FD)the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
(FE)they will not overcome me.
(FF)They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their (FG)eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
(FH)who sees the heart and the mind,[g]
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 (FI)Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 (FJ)Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
(FK)making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like (FL)the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
(FM)let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 (FN)because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 (FO)Why did I come out from the womb
(FP)to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar
21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him (FQ)Pashhur the son of Malchiah and (FR)Zephaniah the priest, the son of (FS)Maaseiah, saying, 2 (FT)“Inquire of the Lord for us, (FU)for Nebuchadnezzar[h] king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to (FV)all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: (FW)Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. (FX)And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you (FY)with outstretched hand and strong arm, (FZ)in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, (GA)I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. (GB)He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
8 “And to this people you shall say: (GC)‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, (GD)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die (GE)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and (GF)surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live (GG)and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For (GH)I have set my face against this city for harm and (GI)not for good, declares the Lord: (GJ)it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
Message to the House of David
11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
(GK)“‘Execute justice (GL)in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
(GM)lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 (GN)“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
declares the Lord;
you who say, (GO)‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 (GP)I will punish you according to (GQ)the fruit of your deeds,
declares the Lord;
(GR)I will kindle a fire in her forest,
(GS)and it shall devour all that is around her.”
22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, (GT)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: (GU)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And (GV)do no wrong or violence (GW)to the resident alien, (GX)the fatherless, and the widow, nor (GY)shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, (GZ)then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I (HA)swear by myself, declares the Lord, that (HB)this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of (HC)Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
(HD)an uninhabited city.[i]
7 (HE)I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
(HF)and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, (HG)“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 (HH)And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
10 (HI)Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
(HJ)but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
Message to the Sons of Josiah
11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and (HK)who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but (HL)in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
13 (HM)“Woe to him who builds his house by (HN)unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
(HO)who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:5 Hebrew arm
- Jeremiah 17:10 Hebrew kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:13 Hebrew me
- Jeremiah 18:2 Or will cause you to hear
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew of the field
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up
- Jeremiah 20:12 Hebrew kidneys
- Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency
- Jeremiah 22:6 Hebrew cities
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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