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 Persistent Sin of Judah
1The sin of Judah is written
with an iron stylus. # Jb 19:24
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts # Pr 3:3; 7:3; Jr 31:33-34
and on the horns of their # Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read your altars,
2while their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills # Dt 16:21; 1Kg 14:23; 2Kg 17:10—
3My mountains in the countryside.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder # Ps 44:10; Is 10:6; 42:22-24; Jr 20:5; 49:31-32; Ezk 7:21; 26:12; 29:19; 36:4; Am 3:11; Zph 1:13
because of the sin of your high places # Lit plunder, your high places because of sin
in all your borders. # Jr 15:13
4You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance
that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know, # Jr 16:13; 22:28; Ezk 32:9
for you have set My anger on fire; # Dt 32:22; Jr 15:14
it will burn forever.
Curse and Blessing
5This is what the Lord says:
The man who trusts in mankind, # Ps 146:3
who makes human flesh his strength # 2Ch 32:8
and turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.
6He will be like a juniper in the Arabah; # Jr 48:6
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives. # Gn 19:24-26; Ps 107:34
7The man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed. # Ps 40:4
8He will be like a tree planted by water: # Ps 1:3; Ezk 17:5-8
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.
The Deceitful Heart
9The heart is more deceitful than anything else, # Gn 6:5
and incurable — who can understand it? # Jr 15:18; Mc 1:9
10I, Yahweh, examine the mind,
I test the heart # Lit kidneys # Dt 8:2; Ps 17:3; 26:2
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve. # Jr 4:18; 7:3,5; 18:11; 23:22; 25:5; 26:3,13; 32:19; Rm 2:6
11He who makes a fortune unjustly
is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
In the middle of his days
his riches will abandon him,
so in the end he will be a fool. # Lk 12:20
12A throne of glory # Is 6:1-3; Jr 14:21; Ezk 1:26-28
on high # Ps 102:19; Jr 25:30 from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary. # Ps 68:33-35; Is 60:13
13Lord, the hope of Israel, # Jr 14:8; 50:7
all who abandon You
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from Me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the Lord, the fountain of living water. # Jr 2:13
Jeremiah’s Plea
14Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for You are my praise. # Ps 22:25; 71:6; 109:1
15Hear how they keep challenging me, # Is 5:19; 2Pt 3:4
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come! ”
16But I have not run away from being Your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the fatal day. # Am 5:18
You know my words were spoken in Your presence.
17Don’t become a terror to me.
You are my refuge # Ps 46:1; 61:3; 62:7-8 in the day of disaster.
18Let my persecutors be put to shame, # Ps 35:4
but don’t let me be put to shame.
Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster; # Ps 35:8
shatter them with total # Lit double destruction.
Observing the Sabbath
19This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem. 20Announce to them: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. 21This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. # Neh 13:15-21; Jn 5:9-12 22You must not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work, # Ex 20:8-10; Dt 5:12-14; Is 56:2-6 but you must consecrate the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors. # Ezk 20:12 23They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate, # Jr 7:26 not listening or accepting discipline.
24“However, if you listen to Me, says the Lord, and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day and consecrate the Sabbath day and do no work on it, 25kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, # Jr 22:2,30; 29:16; 36:30 riding in chariots and on horses # Jr 22:4 with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever. 26Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev # Jr 32:44; 33:13 bringing burnt offerings and sacrifice, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27If you do not listen to Me to consecrate the Sabbath day by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates, # Lm 4:11 and it will consume the citadels # Jr 49:27; Am 1:14 of Jerusalem # 2Kg 25:9 and not be extinguished.” # Jr 7:20
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