The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;
With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart
And on the horns of their altars.
As they remember their children,
So they remember [in detail] their [pagan] altars and their Asherim
Beside green trees on the high hills.
O [Jerusalem] My mountain in the countryside,
I will give [to the Babylonians, as the cost of your sin] your wealth and all your treasures as plunder,
And throughout your territory, your high places of sin.
And you will, through your own fault, let go of your [grip on your] inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your enemies
In a land which you do not know;
For you have kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.
¶Thus says the LORD,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in and relies on mankind,
Making [weak, faulty human] flesh his strength,
And whose mind and heart turn away from the LORD.
“For he will be like a shrub in the [parched] desert;
And shall not see prosperity when it comes,
But shall live in the rocky places of the wilderness,
In an uninhabited salt land.
“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD
And whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD.
“For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters,
That spreads out its roots by the river;
And will not fear the heat when it comes;
But its leaves will be green and moist.
And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought
Nor stop bearing fruit.
¶“The heart is deceitful above all things
And it is extremely sick;
Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives? [Matt 13:15-17; Mark 7:21-23; Eph 4:20-24]
“I, the LORD, search and examine the mind,
I test the heart,
To give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
“Like the partridge that hatches eggs which she has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune in ways that are unjust.
It will be lost to him before his days are over,
And in the end he will be [nothing but] a fool.”
¶A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning,
Is the place of our sanctuary (the temple).
O LORD, the hope of Israel,
All who abandon You will be shamed.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed;
Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my praise.
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