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
1 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen.
It is engraved with a diamond point
on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2Even their children remember their altars
and their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah
beside large trees on high hills
3and on mountains in the open country.#17:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “on my mountain.”
I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot.
I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin
throughout all your territory.
4You will lose the inheritance that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of.
I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger.
It will burn forever.
5“This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the person who trusts humans,
who makes flesh and blood his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6He will be like a bush in the wilderness.
He will not see when something good comes.
He will live in the dry places in the desert,
in a salty land where no one can live.
7Blessed is the person who trusts the Lord.
The Lord will be his confidence.
8He will be like a tree that is planted by water.
It will send its roots down to a stream.
It will not be afraid in the heat of summer.
Its leaves will turn green.
It will not be anxious during droughts.
It will not stop producing fruit.
9“The human mind is the most deceitful of all things. It is incurable.
No one can understand how deceitful it is.
10I, the Lord, search minds and test hearts.
I will reward each person for what he has done.
I will reward him for the results of his actions.
11A person who gets rich dishonestly is like a partridge
that hatches eggs it did not lay.
During his lifetime, he will lose his wealth.
In the end, he will be a godless fool.”
12Our holy place is a glorious throne,
highly honored from the beginning.
13O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who abandon you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in dust,
because they abandon the Lord,
the fountain of life-giving water.
14Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed.
Rescue me, and I will be rescued.
You are the one I praise.
15People keep asking me,
“Where is the Lord’s word?
Let it come.”
16I have not run away from being your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the day of destruction.
You know what came out of my mouth.
17Do not terrorize me.
You are my refuge on the day of disaster.
18Put my persecutors to shame,
but do not let me be put to shame.
Terrify them,
but do not let me be terrified.
Bring the day of disaster on them,
and destroy them completely.
The Blessing That Comes from Observing the Day of Rest as a Holy Day
19This is what the Lord said to me: Stand at People’s Gate, where the kings of Judah go in and out. Then stand at every gate in Jerusalem. 20Tell everyone: “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah, all the people of Judah, and all those who live in Jerusalem, and go through these gates. 21This is what the Lord says: Watch out! If you value your lives, do not carry anything on the day of rest—a holy day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22Do not bring anything out of your homes on the day of rest. Do not do any work, but observe the day of rest as a holy day, as I told your ancestors. 23Your ancestors did not obey me or pay attention to me. They were impossible to deal with and would not listen or accept discipline.
24“Now,” declares the Lord, “you must listen to me and not bring anything through the gates of this city on the day of rest. You must observe the day of rest as a holy day by not doing any work on it. 25If you do this, then the kings and princes who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city. They and their princes will ride in chariots and on horses along with the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This city will always have people living in it.
26“People will come from the cities of Judah, from all around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense. They will also bring thank offerings to the Lord’s temple. 27But you must listen to me and observe the day of rest as a holy day by not carrying anything through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest. If you don’t do this, I will set its gates on fire. The fire will burn down the palaces in Jerusalem, and you won’t be able to put it out.”
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