Jeremiah

17 The sin of Judah is written With a stylus of iron, With the point of a diamond: It is engraved Upon the tablet of their heart, And upon the horns of your altars;

2 So long as their sons remember their altars, and their Sacred Stems By the green tree,—Upon the high hills.

3 O my mountain in the field! Thy substance, all thy treasures for a prey will I give: Thy high places for sin within all thy bounds.

4 So shalt thou, even of thyself, suffer to rest the inheritance which I gave thee, Seeing that I will cause thee to serve thine enemies, in the land which thou knowest not; For a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, Unto times age-abiding shall it burn.

5 Thus saith Yahweh—Accursed is the man—Who trusteth in a son of earth, And hath made flesh his arm,—And whose heart from Yahweh turneth aside:

6 Therefore shall he become as a shrub in the waste plain, Neither shall he perceive when good cometh,—But shall inhabit Parched places in a wilderness, A land of salt that cannot be dwelt in.

7 Blessed is the man Who trusteth in Yahweh, To whom Yahweh is his ground of confidence;

8 For he shall become like a tree planted by waters And by a stream shall he send out his roots, Neither shall he perceive when heat cometh, But his leaf shall continue green; Even in a year of dearth shall he not be anxious, Neither shall he cease from bearing fruit.

9 Deceitful is the heart above all things And dangerously wayward,—Who can know it?

10 I—Yahweh Searching the heart, Testing the affections; And giving to every man According to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

11 [As] a partridge gathereth eggs she did not lay, [So] is he that maketh riches but not with justice,—In the midst of his days shall he leave them, And in his latter end prove to have been base.

12 A throne of glory exalted from the beginning hath been the place of our sanctuary.

13 Thou hope of Israel Yahweh, All who forsake thee shall turn pale,—Yea all who depart from me in the ground shall be written, For they have forsaken a fountain of living water, even Yahweh.

14 Heal thou me, O Yahweh, that I may be healed, Save me that I may be saved,—For my praise thou art!

15 Lo! they are saying unto me,—Where is the word of Yahweh? Pray thee let it come to pass!

16 But as for me I have neither forced myself away from tending the flock after thee Nor yet for the woful day have I longed—thou knowest,—That which came out of my lips before thy face was uttered.

17 Do not thou become to me a terror,—My refuge art thou in the day of calamity.

18 Let my persecutors turn pale but let not me turn pale, Let them be terrified but let not me be terrified,—Bring thou upon them a day of calamity, And with a double fracture destroy them.

19 Thus said Yahweh unto me—Go and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter in, and through which they come out,—also in all the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Then shalt thou say unto them—Hear ye the word of Yahweh, Ye kings of Judah and all Judah, And all ye inhabitants of Jerusalem,—who enter in through these gates:

21 Thus saith Yahweh, Take heed unto your souls,—And do not bear any burden on the sabbath day, Nor bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem,—

22 Neither shall ye take forth any burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, Nor any manner of work shall ye do,—But ye shall hallow the sabbath day, As I commanded your fathers.

23 Howbeit they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear,—but stiffened their neck, that they might not hearken, neither receive correction.

24 And it shall come to pass,—If ye will indeed hearken unto me, Declareth Yahweh, To bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day,—But to hallow the sabbath day, by not doing thereon any manner of work

25 Then shall enter in through the gates of this city Kings and princes Sitting on 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 remain unto times age-abiding.

26 And they shall come in—Out of the cities of Judah and Out of the places round about Jerusalem and Out of the land of Benjamin and Out of the lowlands and out of the hill country and Out of the South, Bringing in ascending-offering and peace-offering and meal-offering and frankincense,—Even they who bring in a thankoffering into the house of Yahweh.

27 But if ye will not hearken unto me—To hallow the sabbath day, And to bear no burden and bring in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day Then will I kindle a fire within her gates And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem And shall not be quenched.