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 17,11 Jer 17,11
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.
But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night {Greek: they require thy soul.}is thy {Or, life}soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?
They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
{Or, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone Hebrew: Shall thine eyes fly upon it, and it is not?}Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?For riches certainly make themselves wings,Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not his hire;
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:
and those riches perish by evil {Or, travail}adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind?
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy {Or, dishonest gain}covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
And these lay wait for their own blood;They lurk privily for their own lives.
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished;But he that gathereth {Hebrew: with the hand.}by labor shall have increase.
He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house;But he that hateth bribes shall live.
The getting of treasures by a lying tongueIs a vapor driven to and fro by them that seek death.
He that augmenteth his substance by interest and increase,Gathereth it for him that hath pity on the poor.
{Or, O prince that lackest understanding and art a great oppressor, He &c.}The prince that lacketh understanding is also a great oppressor;But he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.
A faithful man shall abound with blessings;But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be unpunished.
He that hath an evil eye hasteth after riches,And knoweth not that want shall come upon him.
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies;
In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
{Or, As for Canaan, the &c.}He is {Or, a Canaanite Hebrew: Canaan.}a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to {Or, defraud}oppress.
And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.
For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may {Hebrew: open.}set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
The women of my people ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children ye take away my glory for ever.
Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant {Hebrew: ephah.}measure that is abominable?
Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
{Or, Both hands are put forth for evil to do it &c.}Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting {Or, riddle}proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and that ladeth himself with pledges!
Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall {Or, exact usury of thee}bite thee, and awake that shall {Or, toss thee to and fro}vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them?
Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy soul.
For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!
And in that day I will {Hebrew: visit upon.}punish all those that leap over the threshold, that fill their master's house with violence and deceit.
I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother;
and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.
But they refused to hearken, and {Or, turned a stubborn shoulder}pulled away the shoulder, and {Or, made their ears heavy See Isaiah 6:10.}stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts.
And it is come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Jehovah of hosts;
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
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But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.
whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony {Or, unto}against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.
And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.
having eyes full of {Greek: an adulteress.}adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing;