Jer 17, Jer 26 | 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 26

Jeremiah Threatened with Death

1 ^bnIn the beginning of the reign of ^boJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^bpStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord ^bqall the words that I command you to speak to them; ^brdo not hold back a word. 3 ^bsIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, ^btthat I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them ^bubecause of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^bvIf you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 ^bwand to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you ^bxurgently, ^bythough you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house ^bzlike Shiloh, and I will make this city ^caa curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

7 ^cbThe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then ^ccthe priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be ^cdlike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, ^cewithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 When ^cfthe officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ^cgentry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then ^chthe priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ^ci“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore ^cjmend your ways and your deeds, ^ckand obey the voice of the Lord your God, ^cland the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 ^cmBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, ^cnyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

16 ^coThen the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^cp“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 ^cqAnd certain of ^crthe elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

^cs“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? ^ctDid he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, ^cuand did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? ^cvBut we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^cwKiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when ^cxKing Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then ^cyKing Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, ^czElnathan the son of ^daAchbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, ^dbwho struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

24 But the hand of ^dcAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.