Jeremiah 17:5-10

Good News Translation

Various Sayings

⁵The Lord says,

“I will condemn those
    who turn away from me
and put their trust in human beings,
    in the strength of mortals.
⁶He is like a bush in the desert,
    which grows in the dry wasteland,
    on salty ground where nothing else grows.
Nothing good ever happens to him.

⁷“But I will bless the person
    who puts his trust in me.
⁸^(A)He is like a tree growing near a stream
    and sending out roots to the water.
It is not afraid when hot weather comes,
    because its leaves stay green;
it has no worries when there is no rain;
    it keeps on bearing fruit.

⁹“Who can understand the human heart?
    There is nothing else so deceitful;
    it is too sick to be healed.
¹⁰^(B)I, the Lord, search the minds
    and test the hearts of people.
I treat each of them according to the way they live,
    according to what they do.”