1 The sin of Judah is engraved with a tool of steel, with a point of diamond. It is written on the tablets of their hearts as on the horns of their altars.
2 Their altars and sacred poles witness of it beside every green tree,
3 on the high hills and in the open country! I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder because of your sin in the high places of your land.
4 Because of your fault you will lose the land I gave you. I will give you as slaves to your enemies in a land that you have never known before, for you have kindled the fire of my anger and it will burn forever.
Words of wisdom
5 This is what Yahweh says,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings and depends on a mortal for his life, while his heart is drawn away from Yahweh!
6 He is like a bunch of thistles in dry land, in parched desert places, in a salt land where no one lives and who never finds happiness.
7 Blessed is the man who puts his trust in Yahweh and whose confidence is in him!
8 He is like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots towards the stream.
He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; the year of drought is no problem and he can always bear fruit.
9 Most deceitful is the heart. What is there within man, who can understand him?
10 I, Yahweh, search the heart and penetrate the mind. I re ward each one according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds.
11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay, is someone who hoards riches that he unjustly gained.
At the noontime of his life, his wealth will abandon him; at the twilight of his breath, his folly will be confirmed.”
12 What a glorious and exalted throne is our Sanctuary!
13 Yahweh, hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame and those who turn from you will be cast out from your land, for they have rejected Yah weh, the fountain of living water.
14 Heal me, Yahweh, and I shall be whole; save me and I shall be safe, O you, my hope!
15 People say to me, “Where are Yah weh’s threats? Let them be carried out now!”
16 But I did not urge you to bring devastation
nor a time of tragic death; you well know my desire
and my pleading is in your ears.
17 Do not terrorize my heart;
be my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be hum bled, rather than me!
Let them be terrified but not me!
Let the day of misfortune fall on them!
Crush them twice over!
Observance of the Sabbath
19 The word of Yahweh came to me in these terms,
“Go and stand at the gate they call the People Gate, where the kings of Judah enter and leave;
20 and tell the king and all the people of Judah that this is what Yahweh says:
21 For the sake of your lives, be careful not to carry a load on the sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.
22 Carry no burden out of your adobes and refrain from work on the day of the sabbath. Uphold its sacredness as I commanded your forefathers.
23 They did not obey me or pay attention to what I said. Stiff-necked as they were, they would not hear or accept my warnings.
24 But if you pay attention – it is Yah weh who speaks – and keep the sabbath holy, not working or carrying loads
25 through the gates of Jerusalem, then you will be witnesses to the entry of kings of David’s descent through these gates, riding in chariots and on horses. You shall see them and their princes along with the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall last forever.
26 People will come from the towns of Judah and from the suburbs of Jeru sa lem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the Lowland and the hill country and from the Negeb, bringing into the temple burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, as an act of thanksgiving to Yahweh.
27 But if you do not listen and do not keep the sabbath holy, if you work and carry loads through the gates of Jeru salem, then I will set fire to those gates. It will burn the city and will not be quenched.”
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Comments Jeremiah, Chapter 17
• 17.19 Take care not to carry a load on the Sabbath. Jeremiah often denounces the religious practices which are not accompanied by an upright life; but that does not mean that he minimizes the respect towards God which is manifested externally.
The Law of Rest (such is the meaning in Hebrew of the word Sabbath) is a way for us to allow room for God in our life. Not working on that day is a way to state that people will not be happier by becoming slaves to work, but rather by giving something to God which God will give back a hundredfold (see Gen 2:3; Ex 20:8; Lev 25:20).