ירמיהו יז

The guilt of Judah is inscribed
With a stylus of iron,
Engraved with an adamant point
On the tablet of their hearts,
And on the horns of their altars,

While their children remember
Their altars and sacred posts,
By verdant trees,
Upon lofty hills.

Because of the sin of your shrines
Throughout your borders,
I will make your rampart a heap in the field,
And all your treasures a spoil.

You will forfeit, by your own act,
The inheritance I have given you;
I will make you a slave to your enemies
In a land you have never known.
For you have kindled the flame of My wrath
That shall burn for all time.

Thus said GOD:
Cursed is the man who trusts in mortals,
Who makes mere flesh his strength,
And turns his thoughts from GOD.

He shall be like a bush in the desert,
Which does not sense the coming of good:
It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness,
In a barren land without inhabitant.

Blessed is the man who trusts in GOD,
Whose trust is GOD alone.

He shall be like a tree planted by waters,
Sending forth its roots by a stream:
It does not sense the coming of heat,
Its leaves are ever fresh;
It has no care in a year of drought,
It does not cease to yield fruit.

Most devious is the heart;
It is perverse—who can fathom it?

I GOD probe the heart,
Search the mind—
To repay each person according to their own ways,
With the proper fruit of their deeds.

Like a partridge hatching what she did not lay
So are those who amass wealth by unjust means;
In mid-life it will leave them,
And in the end they will be proved fools.

O Throne of Glory exalted from of old,
Our Sacred Shrine!

O Hope of Israel! O ETERNAL One!
All who forsake You shall be put to shame,
Those in the land who turn from You
Shall be doomed,
For they have forsaken GOD,
The Fount of living waters.

Heal me, O ETERNAL One, and let me be healed;
Save me, and let me be saved;
For You are my glory.

See, they say to me:
“Where is GOD’s prediction?
Let it come to pass!”

But I have not evaded
Being a shepherd in your service,
Nor have I longed for the fatal day.
You know the utterances of my lips,
They were ever before You.

Do not be a cause of dismay to me;
You are my refuge in a day of calamity.

Let my persecutors be shamed,
And let not me be shamed;
Let them be dismayed,
And let not me be dismayed.
Bring on them the day of disaster,
And shatter them with double destruction.

Thus said GOD to me: Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go forth, and in all the gates of Jerusalem,

and say to them: Hear the word of GOD, O kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter by these gates!

Thus said GOD: Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the sabbath day, and bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem.

Nor shall you carry out burdens from your houses on the sabbath day, or do any work, but you shall hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors.

(But they would not listen or turn their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not pay heed or accept discipline.)

If you obey Me—declares GOD—and do not bring in burdens through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day and do no work on it,

then through the gates of this city shall enter kings who sit upon the throne of David, with their officers—riding on chariots and horses, they and their officers—and the citizenry of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited for all time.

And people shall come from the towns of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah, and from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing offerings of thanksgiving to the House of GOD.

But if you do not obey My command to hallow the sabbath day and to carry in no burdens through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates; it shall consume the fortresses of Jerusalem and it shall not be extinguished.