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 {Another reading is, their.}your altars;
whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees upon the high hills.
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.
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.
Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.
For he shall be like {Or, a tamarisk}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.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not {According to another reading, see.}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.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the {Hebrew: reins.}heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
As the partridge {Or, gathereth young which she hath not brought forth }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 {Or, he shall leave them}they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
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.
Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come now.
As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee; neither have I desired {Some ancient versions read, the judgement day of man.}the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy face.
Be not a terror unto me: thou art my refuge in the day of evil.
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 {Hebrew: break them with a double breach.}destroy them with double destruction.
Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go, and stand in the gate of {Or, the common people See chapter 26:23.}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;
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:
Thus saith Jehovah, Take heed {Or, for your life's sake }to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
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.
But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
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;
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 {Or, be inhabited}remain for ever.
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.
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.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 17,2 Jer 17,2
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
For of old time {Or, thou hast}I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not {Another reading is, transgress.}serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides commit adultery.
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.
And they forsook the house of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of {Or, the seers}Hozai.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places,And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
For they shall be ashamed of the {Or, terebinths}oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
For when I had brought them into the land, which I {Hebrew: lifted up my hand.}sware to give unto them, then they {Or, looked out for}saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink-offerings.