¹Judah’s sin is engraved

with an iron pen.

It’s etched with a diamond point

on the tablets of their hearts

²Their children remember their altars and sacred poles[#17.2 Heb ; perhaps objects devoted to the worship of Asherah]

by the lush trees and high hills.

³Because you have committed such sins throughout your country,

I will give to your enemies

⁴You will lose the inheritance that I gave you.

I will make you slaves of your enemies

⁵The LORD proclaims:

Cursed are those who trust in mere humans,

who depend on human strength

and turn their hearts from the LORD .

⁶They will be like a desert shrub

that doesn’t know when relief comes.

They will live in the parched places of the wilderness,

in a barren land where no one survives.

⁷Happy are those who trust in the LORD ,

who rely on the LORD .

⁸They will be like trees planted by the streams,

whose roots reach down to the water.

They won’t fear drought when it comes;

their leaves will remain green.

They won’t be stressed in the time of drought

or fail to bear fruit.

⁹The most cunning heart—

it’s beyond help.

¹⁰I, the LORD , probe the heart

and discern hidden motives,

¹¹Like a partridge gathering a brood that is not its own,

so are those who acquire their wealth corruptly.

¹²Splendid and exalted throne,

the place of our sanctuary

¹³LORD , the hope of Israel,

those who turn away from you in the land

for they have abandoned the LORD ,

¹⁴Heal me, LORD , and I’ll be healed.

Save me and I’ll be saved,

¹⁵See how they harass me:

“Where’s the LORD ’s word?

¹⁶Yet I didn’t urge you to bring disaster;[#17.16 LXX; Heb uncertain]

I didn’t want the calamity to happen.

You know what comes out of my mouth;

it’s always before you.

¹⁷Don’t terrorize me;

you are my refuge in time of disaster.

¹⁸Let my tormentors be disgraced, but not me;

let them be terrorized, but not me.

Bring on them the time of disaster,

as they deserve; destroy them repeatedly.

¹⁹The LORD proclaimed to me: Go and stand by the People’s Gate where Judah’s kings go in and out, and then by all the gates of Jerusalem,

²⁰and say to them: Listen to the LORD ’s word, you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and anyone living in Jerusalem who passes through these gates.

²¹The LORD says: Be on guard not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or conduct business at the gates of Jerusalem.

²²Don’t carry a load from your houses or do any kind of work on the Sabbath day. Rather, keep the Sabbath day holy as I commanded your ancestors,

²³although they didn’t listen or pay attention. They were stubborn and wouldn’t obey or accept correction.

²⁴If you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD , and don’t conduct business at the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, if you keep the Sabbath day holy by not working,

²⁵then through the gates of this city will come kings who occupy the throne of David and their officers, all riding on chariots and horses. They will be accompanied by the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. And this city will always be inhabited.

²⁶Others will come from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from all around Jerusalem, and from the western foothills, the highlands, and the arid southern plain—they will come bringing entirely burned offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD ’s temple.

²⁷But if you don’t obey me by keeping the Sabbath day holy, if you carry your loads and conduct your business at the gates of Jerusalem as usual, then I will set fire to those gates that will completely engulf the fortresses of Jerusalem; it will not be put out.