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
The Sin of Judah
1“The sin of Judah is written with #Job 19:24 a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on #Prov. 3:3; 7:3; [2 Cor. 3:3] the tablet of their heart, and on #Ex. 27:2; Ps. 118:27the horns of their altars, 2while #[ch. 19:5] their children remember their altars and their #Judg. 3:7; See Deut. 16:21 Asherim, #[Isa. 1:29]; See ch. 2:20beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3#Ps. 48:1, 2; 87:1; Isa. 2:3 on the mountains in the open country. #ch. 15:13Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, #See ch. 15:14 and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, #See Deut. 32:22for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
5Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man #2 Chr. 32:8; Ps. 146:3who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,#17:5 Hebrew arm
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 # ch. 48:6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
# ch. 29:32; Job 20:17; Ps. 34:12 and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in #Deut. 29:23; Job 39:6an uninhabited salt land.
7 #
Ps. 25:2; 34:8; 125:1; See Ps. 2:12 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
#
Ps. 71:5
whose trust is the Lord.
8 #
Ps. 1:3; [Ezek. 47:12] 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.”
9The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 #
1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chr. 28:9; Ps. 139:23; Rom. 8:27 “I the Lord search the heart
# See ch. 11:20 and test the mind,#17:10 Hebrew kidneys
# ch. 32:19; Job 34:11; Ps. 62:12 to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11Like the #[1 Sam. 26:20] partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is #Ps. 39:6 he who gets riches but not by justice;
# [Ps. 55:23] in the midst of his days they will leave him,
# [Luke 12:20] and at his end he will be a fool.
12A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13O Lord, #See ch. 14:8 the hope of Israel,
#
Josh. 24:20; Ps. 73:27; Isa. 1:28 all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you#17:13 Hebrew me #[Luke 10:20] shall be written in the earth,
for #ch. 1:16 they have forsaken #ch. 2:13; [John 4:10, 14]the Lord, the fountain of living water.
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 #
Ps. 6:2 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for #Deut. 10:21you are my praise.
15 #
Isa. 5:19; 2 Pet. 3:4 Behold, they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16I have not run away from being your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of sickness.
# ch. 15:15; Ps. 40:9; 139:4 You know #ch. 15:15; Ps. 40:9; 139:4what came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
17Be not a terror to me;
# ch. 16:19 you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 #
Ps. 35:4; 40:14 Let those be put to shame who persecute me,
but let me not be put to shame;
#
Ps. 35:4; 40:14 let them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
# ch. 11:20; Ps. 35:8 bring upon them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction!
Keep the Sabbath Holy
19Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which #See ch. 13:13the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, #[See ver. 19 above]you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and #[John 5:10]; See Neh. 13:15-19do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath #See Num. 15:32-36 or do any work, but #Ex. 23:12; 31:13; Isa. 56:2; 58:13; Ezek. 20:12, 20; See Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23Yet #ch. 7:24, 26; [ch. 11:10] they did not listen or incline their ear, #[2 Chr. 30:8; Acts 7:51] but stiffened their neck, that they #See ch. 5:3might not hear and receive instruction.
24“‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and #[See ver. 21 above] bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but #[See ver. 22 above]keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25then #ch. 22:4there 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. 26And people shall come from #ch. 32:44; 33:13 the cities of Judah #Zech. 7:7 and the places around Jerusalem, #ch. 32:44; 33:13 from the land of Benjamin, #Zech. 7:7 from the Shephelah, from the hill country, #Zech. 7:7 and from #Gen. 13:1 the Negeb, bringing #Lev. 7:12; 22:29; 2 Chr. 33:16; Ps. 107:22; 116:17burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and #Lev. 7:12; 22:29; 2 Chr. 33:16; Ps. 107:22; 116:17bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27But if you do not listen to me, to #[See ver. 22 above] keep the Sabbath day holy, #[See ver. 21 above] and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will #ch. 21:14; 43:12; 49:27; 50:32; Lam. 4:11; Amos 1:14 kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall #ch. 52:13; 2 Kgs. 25:9 devour the palaces of Jerusalem and #ch. 7:20shall not be quenched.’”
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