Jeremiah 17
17
The Sin of Judah
1Yahweh says: “People of Judah, your sins are engraved indelibly on the stone tablets of your hearts and on the horns of your altars, # 17:1 Judah’s guilt had penetrated deep into the people’s hearts, into their innermost being. Sin was engraved where the blood should be. The horns of the altar (see Lev. 4:7) and the tablets of our hearts (see Heb. 10:22) must be sprinkled with the blood of God’s sacrifice, Jesus Christ. engraved with an iron pen and a chisel with a diamond point. 2Your people have set up pagan altars to the goddess Asherah everywhere in your land—under large trees, on hills 3and mountains, and in open fields. So, as punishment for all your sins, I will take your treasures—everything you own, including your altars # 17:3 Or “high places.” —and give them all to your enemies. 4You will forfeit, by your own deeds, # 17:4 Or “Your own hands will have to let go.” the wonderful inheritance I have given you to possess. I will make you serve your enemies in a foreign land you have never known, for you have kindled the flame of my anger, which will burn forever.”
A Contrast of People
5Yahweh said to me:
“Even a strong person # 17:5 The Hebrew word geber means a “strong man,” “champion,” or “hero.” is cursed # 17:5 The Hebrew language has at least six different words for “curse,” with each having a different nuance. They are: ʾarar, qalal, ʾala, qabab, naqab, zaʿam. The word here is ʾarar, which does not mean a magic incantation or evil omen but rather “banned,” “cut off [from purpose],” “hemmed in with obstacles,” or “isolated.” Such is the life that is lived in self-confidence without trusting in God. See R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 2004), V. P. Hamilton, s.v. “168 (ʾarar).”
when his confidence rests in his own strength.
To place your confidence in the strength of man
means that you are turning your heart away from me.
6That person is like a desert tumbleweed
in a dry and dusty desert,
in a rocky wilderness without inhabitant.
Even when goodness is all around him, he won’t experience it.
7“I will bless with happiness # 17:7 The Hebraic concept of “blessing” involves prosperity, happiness, and contentment, and grants us the power to do Yahweh’s will for our lives. We will never be disappointed when we put all our trust in God alone. God plus nothing is all we need. the one who trusts in me,
the one who trusts in me alone. # 17:7 Or “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and Yahweh becomes his trust.”
8He is like a tree planted on the riverbank, # 17:8 There is beautiful similarity between vv. 5–8 and Ps. 1. See Ezek. 17:5, 8.
extending its roots into streams of water.
It does not fear when scorching heat comes,
for its leaves remain fresh and never fading
even in a year of drought.
It has no anxieties but continues to bear luscious fruit.”
9There is nothing more deceitful # 17:9 This is the Hebrew word ʿaqab, which comes from a verbal root that means “to take by the heel” or “to supplant” and from which we derive the name Jacob. Every person has a “Jacob life” living in them, a life that cannot be trusted, for it plots ways to get what it wants (see Phil. 2:21). Only the life of Christ within us is the life that pleases God (see Matt. 3:17; Phil. 1:21; 3:9). than the heart of man;
who can understand it? # 17:9 The Septuagint renders this sentence: “The heart of man is deep [Gr. batheia] beyond all things.”
Man’s heart is sick, in need of healing. # 17:9 There is no doubt that the heart of a person is evil, as Jesus taught (see Mark 7:21–23), and is in need of healing (see Mark 2:17).
10“I, Yahweh, probe the heart, # 17:10 The hearts of men and women can be so deceitful that only God’s searching gaze can uncover and heal. See Deut. 8:2; 1 Sam. 16:7; Pss. 17:3; 26:2; Prov. 17:3; 21:2; Acts 1:24; 15:8; 1 John 3:20.
and I thoroughly test the inner being
to give to all people what they deserve according to their ways
and based on their deeds.”
11Go ahead and cheat others dishonestly,
but by mid-life, everything you’ve gained
will fly away, # 17:11 See Prov. 23:5. like birds hatched from stolen eggs.
You will be proven a fool in the end.
12Our sacred sanctuary is a throne
radiating the glory of Yahweh.
13Yahweh, you are the only hope of Israel!
All who forsake you will be covered with shame.
Those who turn away # 17:13 The Hebrew for “turn away” is from the same triliteral root as the word for “faultfinder.” When we become a “faultfinder,” we are turning away from God. See Judah (Jude) 16. from you
will be written in the dirt. # 17:13 See John 8:8 and footnote. Jesus wrote in the dirt before the accusers of the adulterous woman, illustrating what was prophesied by Jeremiah. To forsake the Hope of Israel is spiritual adultery. The men who wanted to stone the woman were spiritual adulterers, for they had forsaken Jesus, the only hope of Israel. Jesus showed that those who brought the adulterous woman to him were actually the ones who had broken their covenant vow, not just the woman who was thrown at his feet. We must never use the Word of God as a weapon to harm others but rather as a tool to share the love story of a God who longs for our hearts as a bridegroom longs for his bride.
To forsake you, Yahweh,
is to forsake the fountain of living waters. # 17:13 Or “the fountain of life” (LXX).
Jeremiah’s Prayer for Help
14Yahweh, you alone are my praise.
Heal me, and I will be perfectly healed;
save me, and I will be completely saved.
15Listen to what the people keep saying to me:
“Where is the word of Yahweh? # 17:15 Jeremiah’s enemies were taunting him over a prophetic word of coming disaster that had not yet been fulfilled.
Let it come to pass!”
16But I have not stopped running after you
and being a true shepherd. # 17:16 Or “I have not run after you for the sake of disaster.” The difference between the Hebrew word for “shepherd” and the word for “disaster” is a vowel, which was missing from biblical Hebrew.
Nor have I secretly longed for the day of disaster. # 17:16 See Amos 5:18.
You know every word my lips have spoken,
for they were spoken in your presence.
17Do not cause me disappointment. # 17:17 Or “Don’t be a cause of terror.” The Hebrew word mechittah can mean either “terror” or “dismay [disappointment].”
You are my safe place in a day of calamity.
18Let those who persecute me be ashamed,
and don’t let me be disgraced;
let them be the ones who are disheartened
and not me.
Bring on them the day of disaster,
and shatter them with double destruction.
The Sabbath
19Yahweh said to me: “Go and stand in the public gate of Jerusalem by which the kings of Judah enter and leave, and then go to all the gates of Jerusalem 20and preach to the people: ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, you kings and people of Judah, and all who live in Jerusalem who enter by these gates!
21“ ‘Yahweh declares: If you value your lives, stop carrying any loads # 17:21 These loads would be merchandise meant to be sold and bartered with in the markets of Jerusalem. The meaning is that the people are to honor God first on that day; it is not a day to promote ourselves and sell our “goods.” on the Sabbath day, bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem. 22Nor shall you carry any loads out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work; rather, you must set apart that day to honor me as I commanded your ancestors. 23(Yet they would not listen or obey; they stubbornly refused and would not obey or accept instruction.) 24If you listen to me, declares Yahweh, and do not bring in any load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day but observe the Sabbath day as set apart for me and do no work that day, 25then kings of David’s lineage will pass through the city’s gates. The kings and their officials will be riding in chariots or riding horses and will be accompanied by the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. There will always be people living here. 26Then people will come from the towns of Judah and from the villages around Jerusalem and from the land of Benjamin, from the lowlands west of Jerusalem, from the hill country, and from the southern desert of Judah, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, # 17:26 Frankincense was sprinkled, along with a compound of spices, on grain offerings. See Lev. 2:1–2. and offerings of thanksgiving # 17:26 Or “bringing songs of thanksgiving.” to Yahweh’s house. 27But if you do not listen to me, if you treat the Sabbath as any other day on which you carry loads through the gates of Jerusalem, then I will set its gates on fire, and that fire will consume even the palaces of Jerusalem, and no one will be able to extinguish it!’ ”
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Jeremiah 17: TPT
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