Jeremiah 17:5-19:13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
True Wisdom
5 Thus says the Lord:
Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.(A)
6 He is like a barren bush in the wasteland
that enjoys no change of season,
But stands in lava beds in the wilderness,
a land, salty and uninhabited.
7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord;
the Lord will be their trust.(B)
8 They are like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It does not fear heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still produces fruit.(C)
9 More tortuous than anything is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, explore the mind
and test the heart,
Giving to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their deeds.(D)
11 A partridge that broods but does not hatch
are those who acquire wealth unjustly:
In midlife it will desert them;
in the end they are only fools.(E)
The Source of Life
12 A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning,
such is our holy place.(F)
13 O Hope of Israel, Lord!
all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
The rebels shall be enrolled in the netherworld;
they have forsaken the Lord, source of living waters.(G)
Prayer for Vengeance
14 Heal me, Lord, that I may be healed;
save me, that I may be saved,
for you are my praise.
15 See how they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come to pass!”(H)
16 Yet I did not press you to send disaster;
the day without remedy I have not desired.
You know what passed my lips;
it is present before you.
17 Do not become a terror to me,
you are my refuge in the day of disaster.(I)
18 Let my persecutors be confounded—not me!
let them be terrified—not me!
Bring upon them the day of disaster,
crush them with double destruction.(J)
Observance of the Sabbath. 19 Thus said the Lord to me: Go, stand at the Gate of Benjamin,[a] where the kings of Judah enter and leave, and at the other gates of Jerusalem.(K) 20 There say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter these gates! 21 Thus says the Lord: As you love your lives, take care not to carry burdens on the sabbath, to bring them in through the gates of Jerusalem.(L) 22 Bring no burden from your homes on the sabbath. Do no work whatever, but keep holy the sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors,(M) 23 though they did not listen or give ear, but stiffened their necks so they could not hear or take correction.(N) 24 If you truly obey me—oracle of the Lord—and carry no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath, keeping the sabbath day holy and abstaining from all work on it,(O) 25 then, through the gates of this city, kings who sit upon the throne of David will continue to enter, riding in their chariots or upon their horses, along with their princes, and the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This city will remain inhabited forever.(P) 26 To it people will come from the cities of Judah and the neighborhood of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Shephelah, from the hill country and the Negeb, to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.(Q) 27 But if you do not obey me and keep holy the sabbath day, if you carry burdens and come through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath, I will set fire to its gates—a fire never to be extinguished—and it will consume the palaces of Jerusalem.(R)
Chapter 18
The Potter’s Vessel.[b] 1 This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Arise and go down to the potter’s house; there you will hear my word. 3 I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. 4 Whenever the vessel of clay he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making another vessel of whatever sort he pleased.(S) 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done?—oracle of the Lord. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.(T) 7 (U)At one moment I may decree concerning a nation or kingdom that I will uproot and tear down and destroy it; 8 but if that nation against whom I have decreed turns from its evil, then I will have a change of heart regarding the evil which I have decreed.(V) 9 At another moment, I may decree concerning a nation or kingdom that I will build up and plant it; 10 but if that nation does what is evil in my eyes, refusing to obey my voice, then I will have a change of heart regarding the good with which I planned to bless it.(W)
11 And now, tell this to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am fashioning evil against you and making a plan. Return, all of you, from your evil way; reform your ways and your deeds.(X) 12 But they will say, “No use! We will follow our own devices; each one of us will behave according to the stubbornness of our evil hearts!”(Y)
Unnatural Apostasy
13 Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask among the nations—
who has ever heard the like?
Truly horrible things
virgin Israel has done!(Z)
14 Does the snow of Lebanon[c]
desert the rocky heights?
Do the gushing waters dry up
that flow fresh down the mountains?
15 Yet my people have forgotten me:
they offer incense in vain.
They stumble off their paths,
the ways of old,
Traveling on bypaths,
not the beaten track.(AA)
16 Their land shall be made a waste,
an object of endless hissing:[d]
All passersby will be horrified,
shaking their heads.(AB)
17 Like the east wind, I will scatter them
before their enemies;
I will show them my back, not my face,
in their day of disaster.(AC)
Another Prayer for Vengeance. 18 “Come,” they said, “let us devise a plot against Jeremiah, for instruction will not perish from the priests, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. Come, let us destroy him by his own tongue. Let us pay careful attention to his every word.”(AD)
19 Pay attention to me, O Lord,
and listen to what my adversaries say.
20 Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit to take my life?
Remember that I stood before you
to speak on their behalf,
to turn your wrath away from them.(AE)
21 So now, give their children[e] to famine,(AF)
deliver them to the power of the sword.
Let their wives be childless and widows;
let their husbands die of pestilence,
their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
22 May cries be heard from their homes,
when suddenly you send plunderers against them.
For they have dug a pit to capture me,
they have hidden snares for my feet;
23 But you, Lord, know
all their planning for my death.
Do not forgive their crime,
and their sin do not blot out from your sight!
Let them stumble before you,
in the time of your anger act against them.(AG)
Chapter 19
Symbol of the Potter’s Flask. 1 Thus said the Lord: Go, buy a potter’s earthenware flask. Take along some of the elders of the people and some of the priests, 2 and go out toward the Valley of Ben-hinnom, at the entrance of the Potsherd Gate;[f] there proclaim the words which I will speak to you: 3 You shall say, Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring such evil upon this place that the ears of all who hear of it will ring. 4 All because they have forsaken me and profaned this place by burning incense to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors knew; and because the kings of Judah have filled this place with innocent blood,(AH) 5 building high places for Baal to burn their children in fire as offerings to Baal—something I never considered or said or commanded.(AI) 6 [g]Therefore, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when this place will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather, the Valley of Slaughter.(AJ) 7 In this place I will foil the plan of Judah and Jerusalem; I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hand of those who seek their lives. Their corpses I will give as food to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.(AK) 8 I will make this city a waste and an object of hissing. Because of all its wounds, every passerby will be horrified and hiss. 9 I will have them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters; they shall eat one another’s flesh during the harsh siege under which their enemies and those who seek their lives will confine them.(AL)
10 And you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who went with you, 11 and say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Thus will I smash this people and this city, as one smashes a clay pot so that it cannot be repaired. And Topheth shall be its burial place, for there will be no other place for burial.(AM) 12 Thus I will do to this place and to its inhabitants—oracle of the Lord; I will make this city like Topheth.(AN) 13 And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Topheth, all the houses upon whose roofs they burnt incense to the whole host of heaven and poured out libations to other gods.(AO)
Footnotes
- 17:19 The Gate of Benjamin: this gate, probably part of the Temple area, is otherwise unknown.
- 18:1–12 The lesson of the potter is that God has the power to destroy or restore, changing his plans accordingly as these nations disobey him or fulfill his will. Cf. Jon 3:10.
- 18:14 Lebanon: here apparently including Mount Hermon, whose snow-capped peak can be seen from parts of Palestine all year round. The prophet contrasts the certainties of nature with Israel’s unnatural desertion of the Lord for idols (v. 15).
- 18:16 Hissing: in some ancient Near Eastern cultures hissing was not only a sign of derision but a magical means of keeping demons away; people hissed in order to ward off danger, like whistling in a cemetery.
- 18:21 Give their children: often an extended family is meant, to be rewarded or punished as a unit.
- 19:2 Potsherd Gate: perhaps in the south wall of Jerusalem, through which potsherds and other refuse were thrown into the Valley of Ben-hinnom.
- 19:6 Cf. note on 7:31.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.