Jer 17, Jer 25 | ESV | STEP | The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron ; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart , and on the horns of their altars ,

1 “The sin of Judah is written with ^aa pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on ^bthe tablet of their heart, and on ^cthe horns of their altars, 2 while ^dtheir children remember their altars and their ^eAsherim, ^fbeside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 ^gon the mountains in the open country. ^hYour 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, ⁱand I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, ^jfor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man ^kwho trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength, ^{▼▼Hebrew arm}
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 ^mHe is like a shrub in the desert,
ⁿand shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in ^oan uninhabited salt land.
7 ^p“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
^qwhose trust is the Lord.
8 ^rHe 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 ^s“I the Lord search the heart
^tand test the mind, ^{▼▼Hebrew kidneys}
^vto give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11 Like the ^wpartridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is ^xhe who gets riches but not by justice;
^yin the midst of his days they will leave him,
^zand 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, ^aathe hope of Israel,
^aball who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you ^{▼▼Hebrew me} ^adshall be written in the earth,
for ^aethey have forsaken ^afthe Lord, the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

14 ^agHeal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for ^ahyou are my praise.
15 ^aiBehold, 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.
^ajYou know ^akwhat came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
17 Be not a terror to me;
^alyou are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 ^amLet those be put to shame who persecute me,
but let me not be put to shame;
^anlet them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
^aobring 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 ^apthe 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, ^aqyou 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 ^ardo 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 ^asor do any work, but ^atkeep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet ^authey did not listen or incline their ear, ^avbut stiffened their neck, that they ^awmight not hear and receive instruction.

24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and ^axbring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but ^aykeep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then ^azthere 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 ^bathe cities of Judah ^bband the places around Jerusalem, ^bcfrom the land of Benjamin, ^bdfrom the Shephelah, from the hill country, ^beand from ^bfthe Negeb, bringing ^bgburnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and ^bhbringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to ^bikeep the Sabbath day holy, ^bjand not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will ^bkkindle a fire in its gates, and it shall ^bldevour the palaces of Jerusalem and ^bmshall not be quenched.’”

Jeremiah 25

Seventy Years of Captivity

1 ^bnThe word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, ^bofrom the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^bppersistently to you, ^bqbut you have not listened. 4 ^brYou have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^bspersistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ^bt‘Turn now, every one of you, ^bufrom his evil way and evil deeds, and ^bvdwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 ^bwDo not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^bxor provoke me to anger ^bywith the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 ^bzYet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^cathat you might provoke me to anger ^cbwith the work of your hands to your own harm.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 ^ccbehold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^cdmy servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^ceand make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, ^cfI will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^cgthe grinding of the millstones and ^chthe light of the lamp. 11 ^ciThis whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^cjthese nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^ckseventy years. 12 Then after ^clseventy years are completed, ^cmI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^cnthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^comaking the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ^cpin this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 ^cqFor many nations ^crand great kings shall make slaves even of them, ^csand I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: ^ct“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of ^cuthe sword that I am sending among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, ^cvand made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 ^cwJerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, ^cxto make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 ^cyPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and ^czall the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of ^dathe land of Uz and all the kings of ^dbthe land of the Philistines ( ^dcAshkelon, ^ddGaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^deAshdod); 21 ^dfEdom, ^dgMoab, and the sons of ^dhAmmon; 22 all the kings of ^diTyre, all the kings of ^djSidon, and the kings of the coastland across ^dkthe sea; 23 ^dlDedan, ^dmTema, ^dnBuz, and all who cut ^dothe corners of their hair; 24 all the ^dpkings of Arabia and all the kings of ^dqthe mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^drElam, and all the kings of ^dsMedia; 26 all the kings of ^dtthe north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of ^duBabylon ^{▼▼Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon} shall drink.

27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^dwDrink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of ^dxthe sword that I am sending among you.’

28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^dyYou must drink! 29 For behold, ^dzI begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, ^eafor I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’

30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

^eb“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
^ecand shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for ^edthe Lord has an indictment against the nations;
^eehe is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,

declares the Lord.’
32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
^efand a great tempest is stirring
^egfrom the farthest parts of the earth!
33 ^eh“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. ^eiThey shall not be lamented, ^ejor gathered, or buried; ^ekthey shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34 ^el“Wail, ^emyou shepherds, and cry out,
^enand roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain ^eofor the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry ^epof the shepherds,
^eqand the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 ^erand the peaceful folds are devastated
^esbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion ^ethe has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of ^euthe sword of the oppressor,
^evand because of his fierce anger.”