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17 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen.
It is engraved with a diamond point
on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
Even their children remember their altars
and their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah
beside large trees on high hills
and on mountains in the open country.[a]
I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot.
I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin
throughout all your territory.
You will lose the inheritance that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of.
I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger.
It will burn forever.

“This is what the Lord says:

Cursed is the person who trusts humans,
who makes flesh and blood his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He will be like a bush in the wilderness.
He will not see when something good comes.
He will live in the dry places in the desert,
in a salty land where no one can live.
Blessed is the person who trusts the Lord.
The Lord will be his confidence.
He will be like a tree that is planted by water.
It will send its roots down to a stream.
It will not be afraid in the heat of summer.
Its leaves will turn green.
It will not be anxious during droughts.
It will not stop producing fruit.

“The human mind is the most deceitful of all things. It is incurable.
No one can understand how deceitful it is.
10 I, the Lord, search minds and test hearts.
I will reward each person for what he has done.
I will reward him for the results of his actions.
11 A person who gets rich dishonestly is like a partridge
that hatches eggs it did not lay.
During his lifetime, he will lose his wealth.
In the end, he will be a godless fool.”

12 Our holy place is a glorious throne,
highly honored from the beginning.
13 O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who abandon you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in dust,
because they abandon the Lord,
the fountain of life-giving water.

14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed.
Rescue me, and I will be rescued.
You are the one I praise.
15 People keep asking me,
“Where is the Lord’s word?
Let it come.”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the day of destruction.
You know what came out of my mouth.
17 Do not terrorize me.
You are my refuge on the day of disaster.
18 Put my persecutors to shame,
but do not let me be put to shame.
Terrify them,
but do not let me be terrified.
Bring the day of disaster on them,
and destroy them completely.

The Blessing That Comes from Observing the Day of Rest as a Holy Day

19 This is what the Lord said to me: Stand at People’s Gate, where the kings of Judah go in and out. Then stand at every gate in Jerusalem. 20 Tell everyone: “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah, all the people of Judah, and all those who live in Jerusalem, and go through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Watch out! If you value your lives, do not carry anything on the day of rest—a holy day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring anything out of your homes on the day of rest. Do not do any work, but observe the day of rest as a holy day, as I told your ancestors. 23 Your ancestors did not obey me or pay attention to me. They were impossible to deal with and would not listen or accept discipline.

24 “Now,” declares the Lord, “you must listen to me and not bring anything through the gates of this city on the day of rest. You must observe the day of rest as a holy day by not doing any work on it. 25 If you do this, then the kings and princes who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city. They and their princes will ride in chariots and on horses along with the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This city will always have people living in it.

26 “People will come from the cities of Judah, from all around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense. They will also bring thank offerings to the Lord’s temple. 27 But you must listen to me and observe the day of rest as a holy day by not carrying anything through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest. If you don’t do this, I will set its gates on fire. The fire will burn down the palaces in Jerusalem, and you won’t be able to put it out.”

The People of Israel Are Like Clay for a Potter

18 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, “Go to the potter’s house. There I will give you my message.”

I went to the potter’s house, and he was working there at his wheel. Whenever a clay pot he was working on was ruined, he would rework it into a new clay pot the way he wanted to make it.

The Lord spoke his word to me. The Lord asked, “Nation of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter does with clay? Nation of Israel, you are like the clay in the potter’s hands.

“At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom. But suppose the nation that I threatened turns away from doing wrong. Then I will change my plans about the disaster I planned to do to it.

“At another time I may promise to build and plant a nation or a kingdom. 10 But suppose that nation does what I consider evil and doesn’t obey me. Then I will change my plans about the good that I promised to do to it.

11 “Now say to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to prepare a disaster and make plans against you. Turn from your evil ways, change your lives, and do good.’

12 “But they will answer, ‘It’s useless! We’ll live the way we want to. We’ll go our own stubborn, evil ways.’

13 “This is what the Lord says:

Ask among the nations if anyone has ever heard anything like this.
The people of Israel have done a very horrible thing.
14 The rocky slopes of Lebanon are never without snow.
The cool mountain streams never dry up.
15 But my people have forgotten me.
They burn incense as an offering to worthless idols,
and they stumble along the way, on the ancient path.
They go on side roads and not on major highways.
16 Their land will become desolate
and something to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who will pass by it will be stunned and shake his head.
17 Like the east wind I will scatter them in front of the enemy.
On the day of their disaster,
I will show them my back, not my face.”

18 Then they said, “Let’s plot against Jeremiah, because the teachings of the priests, the advice of wise people, and the word of the prophets won’t disappear. Accuse him! Pay no attention to anything he says.”

19 Pay attention to me, O Lord,
and listen to what my accusers say.
20 Good should not be paid back with evil.
They dig a pit to take my life.
Remember how I stood in your presence and pleaded for them
in order to turn your anger away from them.
21 Now, hand their children over to famine.
Pour out their ⌞blood⌟ by using your sword.
Then their wives will become childless widows.
Their husbands will be put to death.
Their young men will be struck down in battle.
22 Make them cry out from their homes
when you suddenly send troops against them,
because they dug a pit to catch me and hid snares for my feet.
23 But you, O Lord, know that they plan to kill me.
Don’t forgive their crimes.
Don’t wipe their sins out of your sight.
Make them stumble in your presence.
Deal with them when you get angry.

Israel Will Be Smashed Like a Clay Jar

19 This is what the Lord says: Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests. Go to the valley of Ben Hinnom at the entrance to Potsherd Gate. Announce there the things I plan to do. Say, “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring such a disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.

“The people, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have abandoned me. They have made this place unrecognizable by burning incense as an offering to other gods that they hadn’t heard of. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. They have built worship sites to burn their children as sacrifices to Baal. I didn’t ask them or command them to do this. It never entered my mind.

“That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom. Instead, it will be called Slaughter Valley. I will smash the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will cut them down with swords in front of their enemies and with the hands of those who want to kill them. I will give their bodies as food to birds and to animals. I will devastate this city. It will become something to hiss at. Everyone who goes by it will be stunned and hiss with contempt at all the disasters that happen to it. I will make the people eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. They will eat each other’s flesh during blockades and hardships that their enemies impose on them when they want to kill them.”

10 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “Then smash the jar in front of the men who went with you. 11 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will smash these people and this city as this potter’s jar was smashed beyond repair. They will bury ⌞the dead⌟ in Topheth until there’s no other place to bury them. 12 That’s what I will do to this place and to those who live in it, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and all the rooftops of the houses will be unclean [b] like this city Topheth. This is because people burned incense to the entire army of heaven and poured out wine offerings to other gods.’ ”

14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring on this city and on all its towns the disasters that I threatened. They’ve become impossible to deal with, and they refuse to obey me.”

Pashhur Imprisons Jeremiah

20 Now the priest, Immer’s son Pashhur, the chief officer of the Lord’s temple, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in prison at Upper Benjamin Gate that was in the Lord’s temple.

The next day when Pashhur took Jeremiah out of prison, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord doesn’t call you Pashhur, but he calls you Terror Everywhere. This is what the Lord says: I’m going to make you terrify yourself and all your friends. Their enemies’ swords will kill them, and you will see it with your own eyes. I will hand all of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take the people away as captives to Babylon or kill them with swords. I will hand all the riches of this city over to their enemies. This will include all its produce, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will loot them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all those who live in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and you will die there. You will be buried there together with all your friends to whom you prophesied these lies.”

Jeremiah Prays to the Lord

O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived.
You overpowered me and won.
I’ve been made fun of all day long.
Everyone mocks me.
Each time I speak, I have to cry out and shout,
“Violence and destruction!”
The Lord’s word has made me the object of insults
and contempt all day long.
I think to myself, “I can forget the Lord
and no longer speak his name.”
But ⌞his word⌟ is inside me like a burning fire shut up in my bones.
I wear myself out holding it in, but I can’t do it any longer.
10 I have heard many ⌞people⌟ whispering,
“Terror is everywhere!
Report him! Let’s report him!”
All my closest friends are waiting to see me stumble.
They say, “Maybe he will be tricked.
Then we can overpower him and take revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is on my side like a terrifying warrior.
That is why those who persecute me will stumble. They can’t win.
They will be very ashamed that they can’t succeed.
Their eternal shame will not be forgotten.
12 But the Lord of Armies examines the righteous.
He sees their motives and thoughts.
I want to see you take revenge on them,
because I’ve brought my case to you.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
He has rescued the lives of needy people
from the power of wicked people.

14 Cursed is the day that I was born,
the day that my mother gave birth to me.
May it not be blessed.
15 Cursed is the man who made my father very happy with the news
that he had just become the father of a baby boy.
16 May that man be like the cities
that the Lord destroyed without pity.
May he hear a cry of alarm in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
17 If only he had killed me while I was in the womb.
Then my mother would have been my grave,
and she would have always been pregnant.
18 Why did I come out of the womb?
All I’ve seen is trouble and grief.
I will finish my days in shame.

Footnotes

  1. 17:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “on my mountain.”
  2. 19:13 Unclean   ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.

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