Add parallel Print Page Options

Wisdom from the Lord

This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
    who rely on human strength
    and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
    with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salty land.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
    and desperately wicked.
    Who really knows how bad it is?
10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts
    and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
    according to what their actions deserve.”

Jeremiah’s Trust in the Lord

11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,
    so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.
At midlife they will lose their riches;
    in the end, they will become poor old fools.
12 But we worship at your throne—
    eternal, high, and glorious!
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,
    all who turn away from you will be disgraced.
They will be buried in the dust of the earth,
    for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.

14 O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;
    if you save me, I will be truly saved.
    My praises are for you alone!
15 People scoff at me and say,
“What is this ‘message from the Lord’ you talk about?
    Why don’t your predictions come true?”

16 Lord, I have not abandoned my job
    as a shepherd for your people.
I have not urged you to send disaster.
    You have heard everything I’ve said.
17 Lord, don’t terrorize me!
    You alone are my hope in the day of disaster.

Read full chapter

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(A)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(B)
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places(C) of the desert,
    in a salt(D) land where no one lives.

“But blessed(E) is the one who trusts(F) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.(G)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought(H)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”(I)

The heart(J) is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heart(K)
    and examine the mind,(L)
to reward(M) each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”(N)

11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
    are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
    and in the end they will prove to be fools.(O)

12 A glorious throne,(P) exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope(Q) of Israel;
    all who forsake(R) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust(S)
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.(T)

14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;(U)
    save(V) me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.(W)
15 They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”(X)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips(Y) is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror(Z) to me;
    you are my refuge(AA) in the day of disaster.(AB)

Read full chapter