Jer 17, Jer 35 | 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 35

The Obedience of the Rechabites

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^bnJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the ^boRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^bpthe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^bqthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^brthe man of God, which was near ^bsthe chamber of the officials, above ^btthe chamber of ^buMaaseiah the son of Shallum, ^bvkeeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^bwJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^bxthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But ^bywhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^bzthe army of the Chaldeans and ^cathe army of the Syrians.’ ^cbSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^ccWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you ^cdpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^cepersistently, saying, ^cf‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^cgdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^chBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^cibecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^cjI have called to them and they have not answered.”

18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^ckto stand before me.”