Jeremiah 17
17
The Lord Will Punish Judah
The Lord said:
1People of Judah,
your sins cannot be erased.
They are written on your hearts
like words chiseled in stone
or carved on the corners
of your altars.#17.1 carved on the corners of your altars: When sacrifices were offered to the Lord to ask him to forgive sins, some of the blood was smeared on the corners of the altar (see Leviticus 4.7,18-20,25, 26,30, 31,34, 35; 16.18). But now the Lord refuses to accept these sacrifices.
* 2One generation after another
has set up pagan altars
and worshiped the goddess Asherah
everywhere in your country—
on hills and mountains,
and under large trees.
3So I'll take everything you own,
including your altars,
and give it all
to your enemies.#17.3 enemies: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 2,3.
4You will lose#17.4 You will lose: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. the land
that I gave you,
and I will make you slaves
in a foreign country,
because you have made my anger
blaze up like a fire
that won't stop burning.
Trust the Lord
5I, the Lord, have put a curse
on those who turn from me
and trust in human strength.
6They will dry up like a bush
in salty desert soil,
where nothing can grow.
7But I will bless those
who trust me, the Lord.
8 #
Ps 1.3. They will be like trees
growing beside a stream—
trees with roots that reach
down to the water,
and with leaves
that are always green.
They bear fruit every year
and are never worried
by a lack of rain.
9You people of Judah
are so deceitful
that you even fool yourselves,
and you can't change.
10 #
Rev 2.23;
Ps 62.12. But I know your deeds
and your thoughts,
and I will make sure
you get what you deserve.
11You cheated others,
but everything you gained
will fly away, like birds
hatched from stolen eggs.
Then you will discover
what fools you are.
Jeremiah Prays to the Lord
12Our Lord, your temple
is a glorious throne
that has stood on a mountain
from the beginning.
13You are a spring of water
giving Israel life and hope.
But if the people reject
what you have told me,
they will be swept away
like words written in dust.#17.13 reject … dust: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
14You, Lord, are the one I praise.
So heal me and rescue me!
Then I will be completely well
and perfectly safe.
15The people of Judah say to me,
“Jeremiah, you claimed to tell us
what the Lord has said.
So why hasn't it come true?”
16Our Lord, you chose me
to care for your people,
and that's what I have done.
You know everything I have said,
and I have never once
asked you to punish them.#17.16 you chose … punish them: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
17I trust you for protection
in times of trouble,
so don't frighten me.
18Keep me from failure
and disgrace,
but make my enemies fail
and be disgraced.
Send destruction to make
their worst fears come true.
Resting on the Sabbath
19-20The Lord said:
Jeremiah, stand at each city gate in Jerusalem, including the one the king uses, and speak to him and everyone else. Tell them I have said:
I am the Lord, so pay attention. 21-24#Ex 20.8-10; Dt 5.12-14; Ne 13.15-22. If you value your lives, don't do any work on the Sabbath. Don't carry anything through the city gates or through the door of your house, or anywhere else. Keep the Sabbath day sacred!
I gave this command to your ancestors, but they were stubborn and refused to obey or to be corrected. But if you obey, 25then Judah and Jerusalem will always be ruled by kings from David's family. The king and his officials will ride through these gates on horses or in chariots, and the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be with them. There will always be people living in Jerusalem, 26and others will come here from the nearby villages, from the towns of Judah and Benjamin,#17.26 Judah and Benjamin: These two tribes made up the southern kingdom of Judah. from the hill country and the foothills to the west, and from the Southern Desert. They will bring sacrifices to please me and to give me thanks,#17.26 sacrifices to please me and to give me thanks: See the notes at 14.12. as well as offerings of grain and incense.
27But if you keep on carrying things through the city gates on the Sabbath and keep treating it as any other day, I will set fire to these gates and burn down the whole city, including the fortresses.
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Jeremiah 17: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 17
17
1Judah’s sin is engraved
with an iron pen.
It’s etched with a diamond point
on the tablets of their hearts
and on the horns of their altars.
2Their children remember their altars and sacred poles#17.2 Heb asherim; perhaps objects devoted to the worship of Asherah
by the lush trees and high hills.
3Because you have committed such sins throughout your country,
I will give to your enemies
my mountain in the land,
as well as your wealth and all that you treasure.#17.3 Heb uncertain
4You will lose the inheritance that I gave you.
I will make you slaves of your enemies
in a land you don’t know,
for my anger blazes like a fire
that won’t go out.
5The LORD proclaims:
Cursed are those who trust in mere humans,
who depend on human strength
and turn their hearts from the LORD.
6They will be like a desert shrub
that doesn’t know when relief comes.
They will live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in a barren land where no one survives.
7Happy are those who trust in the LORD,
who rely on the LORD.
8They will be like trees planted by the streams,
whose roots reach down to the water.
They won’t fear drought when it comes;
their leaves will remain green.
They won’t be stressed in the time of drought
or fail to bear fruit.
9The most cunning heart—
it’s beyond help.
Who can figure it out?
10I, the LORD, probe the heart
and discern hidden motives,
to give everyone what they deserve,
the consequences of their deeds.
11Like a partridge gathering a brood that is not its own,
so are those who acquire their wealth corruptly.
By midlife it will be gone;
afterward they will look like fools.
12Splendid and exalted throne,
the place of our sanctuary
from the beginning!
13 LORD, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you will suffer disgrace;
those who turn away from you#17.13 Or me in the land
will be written off,#17.13 Heb uncertain
for they have abandoned the LORD,
the fountain of living water.
14Heal me, LORD, and I’ll be healed.
Save me and I’ll be saved,
for you are my heart’s desire.
15See how they harass me:
“Where’s the LORD’s word?
Let it come now!”
16Yet I didn’t urge you to bring disaster;#17.16 LXX; Heb uncertain
I didn’t want the calamity to happen.
You know what comes out of my mouth;
it’s always before you.
17Don’t terrorize me;
you are my refuge in time of disaster.
18Let my tormentors be disgraced, but not me;
let them be terrorized, but not me.
Bring on them the time of disaster,
as they deserve; destroy them repeatedly.
19The LORD proclaimed to me: Go and stand by the People’s Gate where Judah’s kings go in and out, and then by all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say to them: Listen to the LORD’s word, you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and anyone living in Jerusalem who passes through these gates. 21The LORD says: Be on guard not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or conduct business at the gates of Jerusalem. 22Don’t carry a load from your houses or do any kind of work on the Sabbath day. Rather, keep the Sabbath day holy as I commanded your ancestors, 23although they didn’t listen or pay attention. They were stubborn and wouldn’t obey or accept correction. 24If you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and don’t conduct business at the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, if you keep the Sabbath day holy by not working, 25then through the gates of this city will come kings who occupy the throne of David and their officers, all riding on chariots and horses. They will be accompanied by the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. And this city will always be inhabited. 26Others will come from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from all around Jerusalem, and from the western foothills, the highlands, and the arid southern plain—they will come bringing entirely burned offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD’s temple. 27But if you don’t obey me by keeping the Sabbath day holy, if you carry your loads and conduct your business at the gates of Jerusalem as usual, then I will set fire to those gates that will completely engulf the fortresses of Jerusalem; it will not be put out.
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