CHAPTER 17
The sin
of Judah
is written
with an iron
stylus,
engraved
with a diamond
point
on
the tablet
of their hearts
and on the horns
of their altars.
Even their children
remember
their altars
and Asherah poles,
by
the green
trees,
on
the high
hills.
O My mountain
in the countryside,
I will give over
your wealth
and all
your treasures
as plunder,
because of the sin
of your high places,
in all
your borders.
And you yourself will relinquish
the inheritance
that
I gave you.
I will enslave you
to your enemies
in a land
you do not
know,
for
you have kindled
My anger;
it will burn
forever.
This is what
the LORD
says:
“Cursed is
the man
who
trusts
in mankind,
who makes
the flesh
his strength
and turns
his heart
from
the LORD.
He will be
like a shrub
in the desert;
he will not
see
when
prosperity
comes.
He will dwell
in the parched places
of the desert,
in a salt
land
where no
one lives.
He will be
like a tree
planted
by
the waters
that sends out its roots
toward
the stream.
It does not
fear
when
the heat
comes,
and its leaves
are always
green.
It will not
worry
in a year
of drought
or cease
producing
fruit.
I,
the LORD,
search
the heart;
I test
the mind
to reward
a man
according to his way,
by what his deeds
deserve.
Like a partridge
hatching eggs
it did not
lay
is the man who makes
a fortune
unjustly.
In the middle
of his days
his riches will desert him,
and in the end
he will be
the fool.
O LORD,
the hope
of Israel,
all
who abandon You
will be put to shame.
All who turn away
will be written
in the dust,
for
they have abandoned
the LORD,
the fountain
of living
water.
But I
have not
run away
from being Your shepherd;
I have not
desired
the day
of despair.
You
know
that the utterance
of my lips
was spoken
in
Your presence.
Let my persecutors
be put to shame,
but do not
let me
be put to shame.
Let them
be terrified,
but do not
let me
be terrified.
Bring
upon them
the day
of disaster
and shatter them
with double
destruction.
This is what
the LORD
said
to me:
“Go
and stand
at the gate
of the people,
through which
the kings
of Judah
go in
and out;
and stand
at all the other
gates
of Jerusalem.
Say
to them,
‘Hear
the word
of the LORD,
O kings
of Judah,
all people
of Judah
and
Jerusalem
who enter
through these
gates.
This is what
the LORD
says:
Take heed
for yourselves;
do not
carry
a load
or bring it
through the gates
of Jerusalem
on the Sabbath
day.
You must not
carry a load
out
of your houses
or do
any
work
on the Sabbath
day,
but you must keep
the Sabbath
day holy,
just as
I commanded
your forefathers.
Yet they would not
listen
or incline
their ear,
but they stiffened
their necks
and would not
listen
or receive
My discipline.
If,
however,
you listen carefully
to Me,
says
the LORD,
and bring
no
load
through the gates
of this
city
on the Sabbath
day,
and keep
the Sabbath
day holy,
and do
no
work on it,
then kings
and princes
will enter
through the gates
of this
city.
They
will sit
on
the throne
of David,
riding
in chariots
and on horses
with their officials,
along with the men
of Judah
and residents
of Jerusalem,
and this
city
will be inhabited
forever.
And people will come
from
the cities
of Judah
and the places around
Jerusalem,
from the land
of Benjamin,
and from
the foothills,
the hill country,
and
the Negev,
bringing
burnt offerings
and sacrifices,
grain offerings
and incense,
and thank offerings
to the house
of the LORD.
But if
you do not
listen
to Me
to keep
the Sabbath
day holy
by not
carrying
a load
while entering
the gates
of Jerusalem
on the Sabbath
day,
then I will kindle
an unquenchable
fire
in its gates
to consume
the citadels
of Jerusalem.'"