Jeremiah

Sins and Punishment of Judah

The sin of Judah is engraved with a steel tool, with a diamond tip. It is written on the tablets of their hearts just as on the horns of their altars.

Their altars and sacred poles testify to it beside every green tree,

on the high hills and in the open country! I will give away your wealth and treasures as plunder because of your sin in the high places of your land.

You will lose the land I gave you because of your fault. I will turn you over to your enemies as slaves in a land you’ve never known before, for you have kindled my anger, which will burn forever.

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings and relies on a mortal for his life, while his heart is turned away from the Lord!

He is like a bunch of thistles in dry land, in parched desert places, in salt land, where no one lives and who never finds happiness.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has confidence in him!

He is like a tree planted by the water, sending its roots toward 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.

The heart is the most deceitful. Who can understand what is within man and examine the mind?

I, the Lord, search the heart I reward each person based on their ways and the fruit of their deeds.

Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay, is someone who hoards riches that he unjustly gained. His wealth will abandon him at the noontime of his life; at the twilight of his breath, his folly will be confirmed.”

What a magnificent and honorable throne is our Sanctuary!

Lord, hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be humiliated, and those who turn away from you will be expelled from your land, for they have rejected the Lord, the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah’s Confessions: Disbelief

Heal me, Lord, and I will be whole; save me, and I will be safe, O you, my hope!

People say to me: “Where are the Lord’s threats? Let them be carried out now!”

But I did not urge you to cause devastation or a time of tragic death; you well know my desire and my pleading is in your ears.

Do not terrorize my heart; be my refuge during times of disaster.

Let my persecutors be humbled instead of me! Let them be terrified, but not me! May misfortune befall them! Crush them twice over!

The Sabbath

The word of the Lord came to me: “Go and stand at the gate called the People Gate, where the kings of Judah enter and leave;

and tell the king and all the people of Judah that this is what the Lord says:

For your own safety, avoid carrying a load on the Sabbath or bringing it through the gates of Jerusalem.

Carry no burdens out of your homes and refrain from work on the Sabbath day. Uphold its sacredness as I commanded your ancestors.

They neither obeyed me nor listened to what I said. Stubborn as they were, they refused to hear or accept my warnings.

But if you pay attention—remember, it is the Lord who speaks—and keep the Sabbath holy, not working or carrying loads

through the gates of Jerusalem, then you will witness the entry of kings from David’s descendant line through these gates, riding in chariots and on horses. You shall see them, along with their princes, the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will last forever.

People will come from the towns of Judah and the suburbs of Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the Lowland, the hill country, and the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense to the temple as an act of thanksgiving to the Lord.

But if you ignore the command to keep the Sabbath and continue working and carrying loads through the gates of Jerusalem, then I will set fire to those gates. The fire will burn the city and won’t be quenched.”