Jeremiah 17

Modern

Literal

The Sin and Punishment of Judah

¹“The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus,

engraved with a diamond point

on the tablets of their hearts

and on the horns of their altars.

¹“ The sin of Judah is written with a stylus of iron; with the nail of a diamond it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart and on the horns of your altars,

²Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles

by the green trees and on the high hills.

²while their sons remember their altars and their Asherah poles, by the green trees on the high hills.

³O My mountain in the countryside,

I will give over your wealth

and all your treasures as plunder,

because of the sin of your high places,

within all your borders.

³O My mountain in the field, I will give your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, your high places of sin within all your borders!

⁴And you yourself will relinquish

the inheritance that I gave you.

I will enslave you to your enemies

in a land that you do not know,

for you have kindled My anger;

it will burn forever.”

⁴And you shall let go—even you—of your inheritance that I gave to you. And I will make you serve your enemies in the land that you have not known. For you have kindled a fire in My nose; it will burn even to forever!”

⁵This is what the LORD says:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind,

who makes mere flesh his strength^a

and turns his heart from the LORD.

⁵Thus says YHWH: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his arm and turns away his heart from YHWH.

⁶He will be like a shrub in the desert;

he will not see when prosperity comes.

He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,

in a salt land where no one lives.

⁶And he shall be like a shrub in the desert plain, and he shall not see when good comes, and he shall dwell in the parched places in the desert, in a salt land without dweller.

⁷But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose confidence is in Him.

⁷Blessed is the man who trusts in YHWH, and his hope is YHWH.

⁸He is like a tree planted by the waters

that sends out its roots toward the stream.

It does not fear when the heat comes,

and its leaves are always green.

It does not worry in a year of drought,

nor does it cease to produce fruit.

⁸And he shall be planted like a tree by the waters, and which by the river sends out its roots; and it does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaf will be green, and in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it will not leave off from producing fruit.

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick—who can know it?

¹⁰I, the LORD, search the heart;

I examine the mind^a

to reward a man according to his way,

by what his deeds deserve.

¹⁰I, YHWH, am the One searching the heart and testing the kidneys, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.

¹¹Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay

is the man who makes a fortune unjustly.

In the middle of his days his riches will desert him,

and in the end he will be the fool.”

¹¹As a partridge that broods and not having brought forth, is one making riches and not with justice; in the midst of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will become a fool.”

Jeremiah’s Prayer for Deliverance

¹²A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,

is the place of our sanctuary.

¹²A throne of glory on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.

¹³O LORD, the hope of Israel,

all who abandon You will be put to shame.

All who turn away will be written in the dust,

for they have abandoned the LORD,

the fountain of living water.

¹³O YHWH, the Hope of Israel, all those forsaking You will be put to shame—(and those turning away from Me will be written in the earth). For they have forsaken YHWH, the fountain of Living waters.

¹⁴Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed;

save me, and I will be saved,

for You are my praise.

¹⁴Heal me, O YHWH, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.

¹⁵Behold, they keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the LORD?

Let it come now!”

¹⁵Behold, they say to me, “Where is the word of YHWH? Let it come now.

¹⁶But I have not run away from being Your shepherd;

I have not desired the day of despair.

You know that the utterance of my lips

was spoken in Your presence.

¹⁶And I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You, and I have not desired the day of despair; You know that which came out of my lips, for it was before Your face.

¹⁷Do not become a terror to me;

You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

¹⁷Be not a terror to me; You are my hope in the day of evil.

¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,

but do not let me be put to shame.

Let them be terrified,

but do not let me be terrified.

Bring upon them the day of disaster

and shatter them with double destruction.

¹⁸Let them be confounded who pursue me, and do not let me be ashamed; let them be dismayed; let me not be dismayed! Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction!

Restoring the Sabbath

¹⁹This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; and stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Thus said YHWH to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, by which the kings of Judah enter into it, and by which they go out of it, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, all people of Judah and Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

²⁰And you shall say to them: ‘Hear the word of YHWH, O kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all those dwelling in Jerusalem who enter by these gates.

²¹This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

²¹Thus says YHWH: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day to bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

²²You must not carry a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day, but you must keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers.

²²You shall not bring out a load from your houses on the Sabbath day, and you shall not do any work, and keep holy the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

²³Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.

²³They did not listen and they did not incline their ear, and they stiffened their neck, that they would not hear, and they would not receive discipline.

²⁴If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it,

²⁴And it will come to pass, if you listen carefully to Me, a declaration of YHWH, and do not bring in a load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and consecrate the Sabbath day to not do any work on it,

²⁵then 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 with their officials, along with the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

²⁵then will come into the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, with the men of Judah and those dwelling in Jerusalem; and this city will abide forever.

²⁶And people will come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the foothills,^a the hill country, and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.

²⁶They will come from the cities of Judah, and from from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah and the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of YHWH.

²⁷But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.’”

²⁷And if you will not listen to Me to consecrate the Sabbath day and not to carry a load and enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem, and it will not be quenched.’”