Jeremiah 17-20

American Standard Version

17 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of ^[a]your altars; ² whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees upon the high hills. ³ O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures for a spoil, and thy high places, because of sin, throughout all thy borders. ⁴ And thou, even of thyself, shalt discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn for ever.

⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah. ⁶ For he shall be like ^[b]the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. ⁷ Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is. ⁸ For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not ^[c]fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? ¹⁰ I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the ^[d]heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. ¹¹ As the partridge ^[e]that sitteth on eggs which she hath not laid, so is he that getteth riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days ^[f]they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.

¹² A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. ¹³ O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be put to shame. They that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. ¹⁴ Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. ¹⁵ Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come now. ¹⁶ As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee; neither have I desired ^[g]the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy face. ¹⁷ Be not a terror unto me: thou art my refuge in the day of evil. ¹⁸ Let them be put to shame that persecute me, but let not me be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and ^[h]destroy them with double destruction.

¹⁹ Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go, and stand in the gate of ^[i]the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; ²⁰ and say unto them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: ²¹ Thus saith Jehovah, Take heed ^[j]to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; ²² neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work: but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. ²³ But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.

²⁴ And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; ²⁵ then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall ^[k]remain for ever. ²⁶ And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, unto the house of Jehovah. ²⁷ But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

18 The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ² Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. ³ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels. ⁴ And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

⁵ Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ⁶ O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; ⁸ if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. ⁹ And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; ¹⁰ if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. ¹¹ Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. ¹² But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart.

¹³ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, who hath heard such things; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. ¹⁴ Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold waters ^[l]that flow down from afar be ^[m]dried up? ¹⁵ For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up; ¹⁶ to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head. ¹⁷ I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

¹⁸ Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

¹⁹ Give heed to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. ²⁰ Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them. ²¹ Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men smitten of the sword in battle. ²² Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. ²³ Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be ^[n]overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger.

19 Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests; ² and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of ^[o]the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee; ³ and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. ⁴ Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ⁵ and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my ^[p]mind: ⁶ therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And I will ^[q]make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth. ⁸ And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. ⁹ And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.

¹⁰ Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, ¹¹ and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, ^[r]till there be no place to bury. ¹² Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth: ¹³ and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.

¹⁴ Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah’s house, and said to all the people: ¹⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.

20 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ² Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah. ³ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, Jehovah hath not called thy name Pashhur, but ^[s]Magor-missabib. ⁴ For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. ⁵ Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all the gains thereof, and all the precious things thereof, yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely.

⁷ O Jehovah, thou hast ^[t]persuaded me, and I was persuaded; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocketh me. ⁸ For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because the word of Jehovah is made a reproach unto me, and a derision, all the day. ⁹ And if I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I cannot contain. ¹⁰ For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, say all my familiar friends, they that watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. ¹¹ But Jehovah is with me as a mighty one and a terrible: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly put to shame, because they have not ^[u]dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten. ¹² But, O Jehovah of hosts, that triest the righteous, that seest the ^[v]heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause. ¹³ Sing unto Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah; for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.

¹⁴ Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. ¹⁵ Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad. ¹⁶ And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and ^[w]shouting at noontime; ¹⁷ because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. ¹⁸ Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?