Jer 15, Jer 17 | ESV | STEP | Then the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people . Send them out of my sight , and let them go !

1 Then the Lord said to me, ^a“Though ^bMoses ^cand Samuel ^dstood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^e“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
3 ^fI will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^gthe birds of the air ^hand the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 ⁱAnd I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what ^jManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

5 ^k“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
^lor who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 ^mYou have rejected me, declares the Lord;
ⁿyou keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
^oI am weary of relenting.
7 ^pI have winnowed them with ^qa winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
^rthey did not turn from their ways.
8 I have made their widows more in number
than ^sthe sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon them suddenly.
9 ^tShe who bore seven has grown feeble;
^ushe has fainted away;
^vher sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,

declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

10 ^wWoe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! ^xI have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11 The Lord said, “Have I not ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12 Can one break iron, iron ^zfrom the north, and bronze?

13 ^aa“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ^abspoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies ^acin a land that you do not know, ^adfor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

15 ^aeO Lord, you know;
^afremember me and visit me,
^ag, ^ahand take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
^aiknow that ^ajfor your sake I bear reproach.
16 Your words were found, ^akand I ate them,
and ^alyour words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
^amfor I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 ^anI did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
^aoI sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
^apmy wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me ^aqlike a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
^ar“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall ^asstand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 ^atAnd I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
^aubut they shall not prevail over you,
^avfor I am with you
to save you and deliver you,

declares the Lord.
21 ^awI will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of ^axthe ruthless.”

Jeremiah 17

The Sin of Judah

1 “The sin of Judah is written with ^aya pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on ^azthe tablet of their heart, and on ^bathe horns of their altars, 2 while ^bbtheir children remember their altars and their ^bcAsherim, ^bdbeside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 ^beon the mountains in the open country. ^bfYour wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, ^bgand I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, ^bhfor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man ^biwho trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength, ^{▼▼Hebrew arm}
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 ^bkHe is like a shrub in the desert,
^bland shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in ^bman uninhabited salt land.
7 ^bn“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
^bowhose trust is the Lord.
8 ^bpHe is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 ^bq“I the Lord search the heart
^brand test the mind, ^{▼▼Hebrew kidneys}
^btto give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11 Like the ^bupartridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is ^bvhe who gets riches but not by justice;
^bwin the midst of his days they will leave him,
^bxand at his end he will be a fool.
12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, ^bythe hope of Israel,
^bzall who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you ^{▼▼Hebrew me} ^cbshall be written in the earth,
for ^ccthey have forsaken ^cdthe Lord, the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

14 ^ceHeal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for ^cfyou are my praise.
15 ^cgBehold, they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of sickness.
^chYou know ^ciwhat came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
17 Be not a terror to me;
^cjyou are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 ^ckLet those be put to shame who persecute me,
but let me not be put to shame;
^cllet them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
^cmbring upon them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction!

Keep the Sabbath Holy

19 Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which ^cnthe kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^coyou kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and ^cpdo not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath ^cqor do any work, but ^crkeep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet ^csthey did not listen or incline their ear, ^ctbut stiffened their neck, that they ^cumight not hear and receive instruction.

24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and ^cvbring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but ^cwkeep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then ^cxthere shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from ^cythe cities of Judah ^czand the places around Jerusalem, ^dafrom the land of Benjamin, ^dbfrom the Shephelah, from the hill country, ^dcand from ^ddthe Negeb, bringing ^deburnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and ^dfbringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to ^dgkeep the Sabbath day holy, ^dhand not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will ^dikindle a fire in its gates, and it shall ^djdevour the palaces of Jerusalem and ^dkshall not be quenched.’”