1The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, with a point of flint; it is engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of your altars,
2while their children remember their altars and their Asherahs beside a leafy tree, upon the high hills.
3O my mountain in the countryside, your wealth and all your treasures I will give as plunder, your high places, because of sin throughout all your borders.
4And you will release, even of yourself, from your inheritance that I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you have not known; for you have kindled a fire in my anger — it will burn forever.
5Thus says Yahweh: Cursed is the man who trusts in humankind and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from Yahweh.
6He will be like a juniper in the desert plain, and he will not see when good comes; he will dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, a salt land where no one lives.
7Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose trust is Yahweh.
8He will be like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by a stream; it will not fear when heat comes, and its foliage will be green; in a year of drought it will not be anxious, and it will not cease to bear fruit.
9The heart is more deceitful than anything, and it is desperately sick — who can know it?
10I, Yahweh, search the heart, test the kidneys, even to give to each according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
11Like a partridge that gathers what it did not hatch is one who makes wealth but not by justice; in the midst of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.
12A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
13O Yahweh, hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame; those who turn away from me will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of living water.
14Heal me, Yahweh, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for you are my praise.
15Look, they are saying to me, ‘Where is the word of Yahweh? Let it come now!’
16But I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after you, nor have I longed for the day of despair; you know what came from my lips — it was before your face.
17Do not become a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18Let my pursuers be put to shame, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring upon them a day of disaster, and shatter them with a double breaking.
19Thus Yahweh said to me: Go and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.
20And say to them: Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates.
21Thus says Yahweh: Guard yourselves for the sake of your lives, and do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem.
22And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, and do no work at all; but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your fathers.
23But they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their neck rather than listen or receive discipline.
24And it will be, if you truly listen to me — declares Yahweh — and bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,
25then there will come through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses — they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited forever.
26And they will come from the cities of Judah and from the surroundings of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of Yahweh.
27But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy and not to carry a burden and come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem and will not be quenched.
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