Judah Punished for its Idolatry

       The sin of Judah is written

          with an iron stylus,

       engraved with a diamond point

          on the tablet of their hearts

          and on the horns of their altars,

       while their children remember

          their altars and their sacred poles

       beside every green tree

          and on the high hills,

          the mountains in the open country.

       Your wealth and all your treasures

          I will hand over as spoil

       in repayment for all your sins

          throughout your territory.

       You will be forced to surrender your heritage

          which I gave to you.

       I will require you to serve your enemies

          in a land you do not know,

       for MY fiery anger has been kindled by you,

          and it will burn forever.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 17, VERSES 1 - 4

Wisdom Sayings

       Thus says THE LORD:

          Cursed is anyone who places his trust in

              human beings

       and relies on human strength

          while his heart turns away from THE

              LORD.

       Such a person is like a shrub in the desert;

          when relief comes, he will not be aware of it.

       He will continue to live

          in the parched areas of the desert,

          in an uninhabited salt land.

       Blessed are those who trust in THE LORD

          and whose hope is THE LORD.

       They will be like a tree planted by the water

          that spreads out its roots to the stream.

       When the heat comes, it does not fear;

          its leaves stay green.

       It is not concerned in a year of drought,

          and it never fails to bear fruit.

       The heart is more deceitful than any other

              thing,

          and it is also perverse.

          Who can uncover its secrets?

       I, THE LORD, search the heart

          and probe the mind

       to reward all according to their conduct

          and as their deeds deserve.

       Like a partridge hatching eggs that it has not

              laid,

          so is the man who amasses riches unjustly.

       When his life is half completed,

          they will desert him;

       and when his life is at an end,

          he will prove to have been a fool.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 17, VERSES 5 - 11

Israel's True Hope

       A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning:

          such is the shrine of our sanctuary.

       O LORD, YOU are THE HOPE OF ISRAEL;

          all those who abandon YOU will be put to

             shame.

       Those who turn away from YOU

          will have their names inscribed in the

              netherworld

       because they have forsaken THE LORD,

          THE SOURCE OF LIVING WATER.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 17, VERSES 12 & 13

Prayer for Vengeance

       Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed;

          save me, and I will be saved;

          YOU are THE ONE whom I praise.

       People continue to say to me,

          "Where is the word of THE LORD?

          Let it come to pass."

       I have never tried to avoid

          being a shepherd in YOUR service,

          nor have I desired the clay of despair.

       Every word that passed my lips

          has always been known to YOU.

       Do not become a source of terror to me;

          YOU will be my refuge on the day of

              disaster.

       Let my persecutors be confounded, and not

              me;

          let them, not me, be terrified.

       Bring upon them the day of disaster;

          crush them with unending destruction.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 17, VERSES 14 - 18

The Sabbath Observed.

       Thus said THE LORD to me: Go forth and stand at the Gate of Benjamin through which the kings of Judah enter and depart, and stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. There you are to say to them: Hear the word of THE LORD, you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah as well, and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem who pass through these gates.

       Thus says THE LORD: If you value your lives, take care that you do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Bring no burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, and do no work. You are to keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. However, they did not listen or pay attention; rather, they stiffened their necks and would not heed MY warnings or accept instruction.

       But if you listen carefully to ME, says THE LORD, and carry no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, keeping the Sabbath holy and doing no work on that day, then kings will come through the gates of this city, kings who will sit on the throne of David. They will come riding in chariots or on horseback, escorted by their officials, the people of Judah, and the citizens of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever.

       People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the foothills, from the hill country and the Negeb, to bring holocausts and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense and thank offerings, to the house of THE LORD. However, if you do not listen to MY commands to keep the Sabbath day holy and to carry no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will set fire to the gates, an unquenchable fire that will consume the palaces of Jerusalem.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 17, VERSES 19 - 27

The Potter's House.

This is the message delivered by THE LORD to Jeremiah. "Arise and go forth to the potter's house, and then I will tell you what I have to say." Therefore, I proceeded to the potter's house, where I found him working at his wheel.  Whenever the vessel he was making of clay turned out badly in his hands, he would use that clay to remold it into another vessel as he saw fit.

       Then the word of THE LORD came to me: Can I not do to you what this potter does, O house of Israel? Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in MY hand, O house of Israel. On occasion I may threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a particular nation or kingdom. However, should that nation which I have threatened turn away from its evil ways, I will then relent and not inflict the disaster I had devised. On another occasion I may promise to build up and plant a nation or kingdom. However, if that nation follows an evil path and refuses to obey ME, then I will cease to bestow upon it the blessings that I had promised.

       Therefore, now deliver this message to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says THE LORD: Be forewarned! I am preparing a disaster for you and designing a plan against you. So now, each one of you, turn away from your evil pursuits and amend your conduct and your actions. However, they will reply, "It is no use. We intend to continue our ways and follow the wicked inclinations of our heart."

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 18, VERSES 1 - 12

Judah's Apostasy

       Therefore, thus says THE LORD:

          Ask among the nations:

          Who has ever heard anything like this?

       The virgin Israel has done

          a truly horrible thing.

       Does the snow of Lebanon

          ever disappear from its rocky slopes?

       Do the torrents of gushing waters

          ever cease to flow?

       Yet MY people have forgotten ME;

          they burn incense to worthless idols,

       causing them to stumble

          as they forsake ancient roads

          to travel along unfamiliar paths.

       Their land will be laid waste,

          an object of unending scorn.

       Those who pass by will be appalled on

              beholding it

          and shake their heads.

       Like the east wind,

          I will scatter them before their enemies.

       On the day of their downfall

          I will show them MY back, not MY face.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 18, VERSES 13 - 17

Another Prayer for Vengeance.

       They then raised a cry, "Let us devise a plot against Jeremiah. We will still receive instruction from the priests. Wise men will still offer us counsel, and prophets will still proclaim the word. Therefore, let us bring charges against him and refuse to pay attention to anything he says."

       Pay heed to me, O LORD,

          and listen to what my adversaries are

              saying.

       Should good be repaid with evil?

          Now they are digging a pit for me.

       Remember how I stood before YOU,

          interceding on their behalf

          and begging YOU to turn away YOUR wrath

              from them.

       Therefore, give their children over to famine

          and abandon them to the power of the

              sword.

       Let their wives become childless and widowed;

          let their men die of pestilence

          and their young men be slain by the sword

              in battle.

       May screams be heard from their houses

          when YOU bring marauders upon them

              suddenly.

       For they have dug a pit to catch me

          and laid snares for my feet.

       Yet YOU, O LORD, are fully aware

          of all their murderous plots to slay me.

       Do not pardon their guilt

          or blot out their sin from YOUR sight.

       Let them be thrown down before YOU;

          deal with them at the height of YOUR

              anger."

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 18, VERSES 18 - 23

Symbol of the Broken Jug.

Thus said the THE LORD: Go forth and purchase a potter's earthenware jug. Then take along with you some of the elders of the people and some of the priests, and go forth to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, close to the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you: Hear the word of THE LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is the message of THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: I am prepared to bring such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

       For these people have forsaken ME and have profaned this place by offering sacrifices in it to foreign gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent, building the high places of Baal to sacrifice their sons as burnt offerings to Baal. I never commanded or mentioned such a thing, nor did it ever enter MY mind.

       Therefore, the days are surely coming, says THE LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Benhinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. In this place, I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who are determined to slaughter them. Their corpses I will give as food to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

       Moreover, I will make this city an object of horror and a source of derision. Every passerby will be horrified at the sight and be amazed at the disaster it has incurred. I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and all will devour one another's flesh during the siege because of the incredible distress with which they have been afflicted by their enemies and those who seek their lives.

       Then you are to break the jug in the presence of the men who have accompanied you and say to them: Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS: In the same way I will smash this people and this city, as one smashes a potter's earthenware jug so that it can never be repaired, and the dead will be buried in Topheth until no further space for burial remains.

       This is what I am determined to do with this place and its inhabitants, says THE LORD. I will make this city like Topheth. And the houses of Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth, all of the houses upon whose roofs they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out libations to other gods.

       When Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where THE LORD had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the court of THE LORD's house and proclaimed to all the people, "Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: I am now prepared to inflict upon this city and upon all its towns the total disaster with which I threatened it, because they have remained steadfast in their stubbornness and refused to listen to MY words."

       When the priest Pashhur, the son of Immer, who was the chief officer in the house of THE LORD, heard Jeremiah proclaiming this prophecy, he ordered him to be scourged, and then placed him in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the house of THE LORD.

       The next morning, after Passhur had released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "THE LORD's name for you is not Passhur but 'Terror-on-Every-Side.' For thus says THE LORD, 'I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. And I will deliver all Judah to the king of Babylon, and he will take the people captive and carry them off to Babylon or put them to the sword.

       " 'All the wealth of this city, all of its cherished possessions, and all of the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over as plunder to their enemies who will seize it and carry it off to Babylon. Furthermore, you, Passhur, and all the members of your household will be taken into captivity and led off to Babylon. There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends, because you have prophesied falsely to them.' "

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 19 & CHAPTER 20, VERSES 1 - 6

Jeremiah's Confession

       O LORD, YOU deceived me,

          and I allowed myself to be deceived.

       YOU were too powerful for me,

          and YOU have prevailed.

       All day long I am an object of ridicule;

          everyone mocks me.

       Whenever I speak, I must cry out;

          my message is violence and destruction.

       For the word of THE LORD has caused me to

              endure

          reproach and derision all day long.

       If I say, "I will not mention HIM

          or speak any longer in HIS name,"

       within me I experience a fire burning in my

              heart

          and imprisoned in my bones.

       I am weary holding it in,

          and I can no longer do so.

       For I hear many whispering,

          "Terror surrounds us.

          Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"

       All those who were my close friends

          are waiting for me to stumble, saying,

       "Perhaps we can trick him,

          and we will be able to prevail

          and take our revenge against him."

       But THE LORD is at my side

          like a mighty warrior.

       Therefore, my persecutors will stumble,

          and they will not prevail.

       Because of their failure,

          they will be greatly shamed,

       and the disgrace that they will endure

          will be everlasting and unforgettable.

       O LORD OF HOSTS, YOU test the righteous

          and probe the mind and the heart.

       Let me behold YOUR retribution on them,

          for to YOU I have committed my cause.

       Sing to THE LORD;

          praise THE LORD.

       For HE has rescued the life of the poor

          from the power of the wicked.

       Cursed be the day

          on which I was born!

       May the day when my mother bore me

          be forever unblessed.

       Cursed be the man

          who brought the news to my father.

       "A child, a son, has been born to you,"

          thereby bringing great joy to his heart.

       Let that man be like the cities

          that THE LORD oberthrew without mercy.

       Let him hear the cry of warning in the

              morning

          and shouts of battle at noon

       because he did not kill me in the womb.

       Then my mother would have been my grave,

          with her womb confining me forever.

       Why did I come forth from the womb

          to see toil and sorrow

          and spend my days in shame?

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 20, VERSES 7 - 18