Jeremiah 17
17
Hearts Engraved with Sin
1Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen and with a point of a diamond, engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of your altars.
2So their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by leafy trees on the high hills.
3My mountain in the country, your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, along with your high places for sin within all your borders.
4So you, on your own, let go of your heritage that I gave you. So I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know. For you have kindled a fire in My nose that will burn forever.”
Planted by the Water Without Fear
5Thus says Adonai: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, and depends on flesh as his arm, and whose heart turns from Adonai.
6For he will be like a bush in the desert. He cannot see goodness when it comes, but will dwell in parched places in the wilderness— a salt land where no one lives.
7Blessed is the one who trusts in Adonai, whose confidence is in Adonai.
8For he will be like a tree planted by the waters, spreading out its roots by a stream. It has no fear when heat comes, but its leaves will be green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor depart from yielding fruit.
A Deceitful Heart is Incurable
9“The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable—who can know it?
10I Adonai search the heart, I try the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
11As a partridge that broods over young that she did not lay, so is one who gets wealth, unjustly. In the middle of his days it will abandon him, so at his end he will be a fool.
12Throne of glory on high from the beginning! Place of our sanctuary,
13Adonai, You are the hope of Israel! All who forsake You will be ashamed. Those who depart from You will be written in the dirt, for they have forsaken Adonai, the fountain of living waters.
14Heal me, Adonai, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For You are my praise.
15Look, they are saying to me, “Where is the word of Adonai? Let it come now!”
16As for me, I have not run away from being a shepherd after You, nor have I desired the woeful day. What came out of my lips You know—it was before You.
17Be not a ruin to me— You are my refuge in the evil day.
18Let my persecutors be ashamed, yet let me not be ashamed. Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them the evil day, Destroy them with double destruction.
Carry No Burdens on Shabbat
19Thus said Adonai to me: “Go, stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem,
20and say to them: ‘Hear the word of Adonai, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates!
21Thus says Adonai, “Guard your souls! Carry no burden on the day of Shabbat or bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem.
22Nor should you carry a burden out of your houses on Yom Shabbat or do any work, but keep Yom Shabbat holy—as I commanded your fathers.”
23Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, not hearing or accepting correction.
24“However, if you listen attentively to Me,” says Adonai, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on Yom Shabbat, but sanctify Yom Shabbat and do no work on it,
25then there will enter in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—with their princes, the people of Judah and those dwelling in Jerusalem—and this city will be inhabited forever.
26They will come from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, frankincense, and sacrifices of thanksgiving to the House of Adonai.
27“But if you do not listen to Me to keep Yom Shabbat holy, by not bearing a burden or entering through the gates of Jerusalem on Yom Shabbat, then I will set its gates on fire, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem, and not be quenched.’”
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Jeremiah 17: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 17
17
Guilt Written on the Heart
1“The sins of Judah are written where they cannot be erased—
cut into stone with an iron pen,
cut deep with a hard tip into the stone that is the hearts of the people.
Their sins are carved into the horns of their altars.#17:1 horns of their altars The corners of altars were shaped like horns, and the blood of sacrifices was smeared on them. So Jeremiah may mean that the people’s sins have made their altars unfit for sacrifices.
2Their children remember the altars
that were dedicated to false gods.
They remember the wooden poles
that were dedicated to Asherah.
They remember those things
under the green trees and on the hills.
3They remember those things
on the mountains in the open country.
The people of Judah have many treasures.
I will give those things to other people.
People will destroy all the high places in your country.
You worshiped there, and that was a sin.
4You will lose the land I gave you.
I will let your enemies take you to be their slaves.
That is because I am very angry.
My anger is like a hot fire, and you will be burned forever.”
Trusting in People and Trusting in God
5This is what the Lord says:
“Bad things will happen to those who put their trust in people.
Bad things will happen to those who depend on human strength.
That is because they have stopped trusting the Lord.
6They are like a bush in a desert where no one lives.
It is in a hot and dry land.
It is in bad soil.
That bush does not know about the good things that God can give.
7“But those who trust in the Lord will be blessed.
They know that the Lord will do what he says.
8They will be strong like trees planted near a stream
that send out roots to the water.
They have nothing to fear when the days get hot.
Their leaves are always green.
They never worry, even in a year that has no rain.
They always produce fruit.
9“Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind.
It can be very sick,
and no one really understands it.
10But I am the Lord,
and I can look into a person’s heart.
I can test a person’s mind and decide what each one should have.
I can give each person the right payment for what they do.
11Sometimes a bird will hatch an egg that it did not lay.
Those who cheat to get money are like that bird.
But when their lives are half finished, they will lose the money.
At the end of their lives, it will be clear that they were fools.”
12From the very beginning, our Temple
has been a glorious throne for God.
It is a very important place.
13Lord, you are the hope of Israel.
You are like a spring of living water.
Those who stop following the Lord
will have a very short life.#17:13 will have a very short life Literally, “he will be written in the dirt.” This might mean that a person’s name was written on a list of people who would soon die, or that a person’s life will soon be gone—like a name written in the sand.
Jeremiah’s Third Complaint
14Lord, if you heal me, I surely will be healed.
Save me, and I surely will be saved.
Lord, I praise you!
15The people of Judah continue to ask me questions.
They say, “Jeremiah, what about the message from the Lord?
Let’s see that message come true.”
16Lord, I did not run away from you.
I followed you.
I became the shepherd#17:16 shepherd God’s people are sometimes called his “sheep,” and the person who takes care of them is called the “shepherd.” you wanted.
I did not want the terrible day to come.
You know what I said.
You see all that is happening.
17Please don’t make me afraid of you.
I depend on you in times of trouble.
18People are hurting me.
Make them ashamed,
but don’t disappoint me.
Let them be filled with fear,
but don’t give me any reason to fear.
Bring the terrible day of disaster to my enemies.
Break them, and break them again.
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19This is what the Lord said to me: “Jeremiah, go and stand at the People’s Gate,#17:19 People’s Gate This might be one of the gates into Jerusalem or perhaps one of the southern gates into the Temple area used by those who were not priests. where the kings of Judah go in and out. Tell the people my message, and then go to all the other gates of Jerusalem and do the same.”
20Say to the people, “Listen to this message from the Lord. Listen, kings of Judah. Listen, all you people of Judah. All you who come through these gates into Jerusalem, listen to me! 21This is what the Lord says: ‘Be careful that you don’t carry a load on the Sabbath day. And don’t bring a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. 22Don’t bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Don’t do any work on that day. You must make the Sabbath day a holy day. I gave this same command to your ancestors, 23but they did not obey me. They did not pay attention to me. Your ancestors were very stubborn. I punished them, but it did not do any good. They did not listen to me. 24But you must be careful to obey me, says the Lord. You must not bring a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath. You must make the Sabbath day a holy day. You will do this by not doing any work on that day.
25“‘If you obey this command, the kings and leaders will be from David’s family. It will be the kings who sit on David’s throne and the leaders from Judah and Jerusalem who come through the gates of Jerusalem riding on chariots and on horses. And Jerusalem will have people living in it forever. 26People will come to Jerusalem from the towns and villages of Judah, from the land where the tribe of Benjamin lives,#17:26 the land where … Benjamin lives The land of Benjamin was just north of the land of Judah. from the western foothills, from the hill country, and from the Negev. All these people will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thank offerings to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
27“‘But if you don’t listen to me and obey me, bad things will happen. If you carry loads into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, you are not keeping it as a holy day. So I will start a fire that cannot be put out. That fire will start at the gates of Jerusalem, and it will burn until it burns even the palaces.’”
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