Jeremiah 17

1 [Yahweh said, “It is as though a list of] the sins [committed by the people of] Judah is engraved with an iron chisel, or engraved using the fine point of a very hard stone, on the altars [where they worship idols]. And [it is as though] this list is engraved on their inner beings!

The sin of Judah is written down with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond: it is engraved upon the table of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.

2 [Even] their children are happy to go to the altars [to worship their gods], and to the poles [that represent the goddess] Asherah [at which their parents worshiped], shrines that are underneath all the big trees and on [all] the high hills.

Like their remembrance of their children, so are [to them] their altars and their groves by [every] green tree upon the high hills.

3 So, I will allow your enemies to capture [Zion], your holy hill, and all your wealth and your (treasures/valuable things), and [even] the shrines on all those hills, because of the sins that you people have committed throughout your land.

O my mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures will I give up for spoil, thy high-places [reared] with sin, throughout all thy borders.

4 The [wonderful] land that I gave to you will no longer belong to you. I will tell your enemies to take you to a land that you do not know about, and you will become their slaves. [I will do that] because I am extremely angry [with you]; my being angry is [like] a fire that will burn forever.”

And thou shalt be cast out, yea through thy own guilt, from thy heritage which I have given thee; and I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in my anger, for ever shall it burn.

5 This is [also] what Yahweh says: “[I] will curse/condemn those who trust in human beings [to help them], those who rely on their own strength and turn away from me.

Thus hath said the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and placeth on flesh his dependence, while from the Lord his heart departeth.

6 They are like [dry] bushes in the desert, they are people who will not experience any good things. Those people will live in the barren desert in a salty area, where nothing grows.

And he shall be like a lonely tree in the desert, which feeleth not when the good cometh; but abideth in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salty land which cannot be inhabited.

7 But I am pleased with those who trust in [me], Yahweh, and who confidently expect [me to take care of them].

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord will be his trust.

8 Those people are like [SIM] fruit trees that have been planted along a riverbank, trees that have roots that go down into the [wet ground beside] the water. They are trees whose leaves remain green when it becomes hot, trees that continue to bear fruit when there are many months in which there is no rain.

And he shall be like a tree that is planted by the waters, and by a stream spreadeth out its roots, which feeleth not when heat cometh, but its leaf remaineth green; and in a year of drought it is undisturbed by care, and ceaseth not from yielding fruit.

9 Human minds are extremely corrupt/deceitful, and you cannot change that. It is also completely impossible [RHQ] for anyone to understand that.

Deceitful is the heart above all things, and sick: who can know it?

10 But I, Yahweh, search what is in everyone’s inner being, and I examine what they are thinking. I will give all people rewards, what they deserve for what they have done.”

I the Lord search the heart, probe the reins: yea, to give unto every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.

11 [I, Jeremiah, agree, because I know that] people who become rich by doing things that are unjust are like birds that hatch eggs that they (did not lay/stole from another nest). So, when those people have lived only half of the years [that they expect to live], their wealth will disappear. Then [other people will realize that] those rich people have been foolish.

As a cuckoo that sitteth on eggs which he hath not laid, so is he that get the riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be called wicked.

12 Yahweh, your temple is [like] a glorious throne that is still on a high hill.

A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary!

13 You are the one whom [we] Israeli people confidently expect [to bless us], and all those who turn away from you will be disgraced. Their names will be written [only] in the dust, [and will soon disappear], because they have abandoned you, [who are like] [MET] a fountain where people obtain fresh water.

Hope of Israel, O Lord, all that forsake thee shall be made ashamed, and the backsliders among me shall be written down on the earth; because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, the Lord.

14 Yahweh, [please] heal me, because [if you heal me], I will truly be healed. [If you] rescue me, I will truly be safe, because you are the [only] one whom I praise.

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved; for my praise art thou.

15 People often ridicule me and say, “You tell us messages that you say came from Yahweh, but (why have the things that you predicted not happened?/those predictions have not come true!)” [RHQ]

Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.

16 Yahweh, you [appointed me to take care of your people like] a shepherd [takes care of his sheep] [MET]; I have not abandoned that work, and you know that I have not [previously] wanted this time of disaster [to come to people who ridicule me]. And you know everything that I have said [MTY] [to your people].

As for me, I have not hastened to be a shepherd to follow thee; and the woeful day have I not longed for; thou knowest it: what came out of my lips was known before thee.

17 Do not cause me to be terrified! When disasters come/occur, you are the one to whom I will go to be safe.

Be not a terror unto me: thou art my protection on the day of evil.

18 [So now], cause those who (persecute me/cause me to suffer) to be ashamed and dismayed, but do not [do things to me that will] cause me to be ashamed and dismayed. Cause them to be terrified! Do to them many things that will completely destroy them!

Let those be made ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be made ashamed: let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and strike them with a double breach.

19 This is what Yahweh said to me: “Go to the city gates in Jerusalem. [First] go to the gate where the kings of Judah go in and out of the city, and [then] go to each of the [other] gates.

Thus said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah usually enter, and by which they usually go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 Say to the people [at each gate], ‘You kings of Judah and everyone [else] who is living in Jerusalem and all [you other people of] Judah who enter these gates, listen to this message from Yahweh!

And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates.

21 He says, “Listen to this warning carefully! [Stop doing work] on (Sabbath/our rest) days! Stop carrying loads through these gates [on those days]!

Thus hath said the Lord, Take heed for your souls, and bear no burden on the sabbath-day, nor bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem;

22 Do not carry loads out of your houses or do any [other] work on Sabbath days! Instead, cause Sabbath days to be (holy/set apart for me). I commanded your ancestors to do that,

Nor shall you carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath-day, and no manner of work shall ye do, but hallow ye the sabbath-day, as I have commanded your fathers;

23 but they did not listen to me or obey me. When I did things to correct them, they stubbornly [IDM] refused to pay attention to what I said or to accept it.

But they hearkened not, and inclined not their ear; and they made their neck stiff, so as not to hearken, and not to receive instruction.

24 But I say that if you obey me, and if you do not carry loads through these gates [on Sabbath days] or do any other work on Sabbath days, and if you dedicate the Sabbath days to me,

And it shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, so as to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, and to hallow the sabbath-day, so as to do no work thereon:

25 kings of Judah [MTY] and [their] officials will [continue to] go in and out of these gates. There will [always] be someone who is a descendant of [MTY] [King] David ruling [here] [MTY] in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates, riding in chariots and on horses, and there will be people living in this city forever.

Then shall there enter through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited for ever.

26 And people will come [to Jerusalem] bringing offerings to be completely burned [on the altar] and [other] offerings. They will bring to the temple grain offerings and incense and offerings to thank [me]. People will bring those offerings from the towns in Judah and the villages near Jerusalem and from the land [where the tribe] of Benjamin [lives] and from the western foothills and from the desert in the south.

And there shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands, and from the mountain, and from the south, those that bring burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and frankincense, and those that bring thanksgiving-offerings, unto the house of the Lord.

27 But if you do not pay attention to what I say, and if you refuse to dedicate the Sabbath days to me, and if you [continue to] carry loads through these gates into the city on Sabbath days, I will burn these gates completely. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out that fire.”’”

But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, and to enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day: then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.