171 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 , 2 As they remember their children , So they remember their altars and their Asherim By green trees on the high hills . 3 O mountain of Mine in the countryside , I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty , Your high places for sin throughout your borders . 4 And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your enemies In the land which you do not know ; For you have kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever e .
5 Thus says the Lord , " Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength , And whose heart turns away from the Lord . 6 "For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes , But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness , A land of salt without inhabitant . 7 " Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord . 8 "For he will be like a tree planted by the water , That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes ; But its leaves will be green , And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit . 9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick ; Who can understand it? 10 "I, the Lord , search the heart , I test the mind , Even to give to each man according to his ways , According to the results of his deeds . 11 "As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid , So is he who makes a fortune , but unjustly e ; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool ."
12 A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary . 13 O Lord , the hope of Israel , All who forsake You will be put to shame . Those who turn away on earth will be written down , Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water , even the Lord . 14 Heal me, O Lord , and I will be healed ; Save me and I will be saved , For You are my praise . 15 Look , they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the Lord ? Let it come now !" 16 But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You, Nor have I longed for the woeful day ; You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips Was in Your presence . 17 Do not be a terror to me; You are my refuge in the day of disaster . 18 Let those who persecute me be put to shame , but as for me, let me not be put to shame ; Let them be dismayed , but let me not be dismayed . Bring on them a day of disaster , And crush them with twofold destruction !
19 Thus the Lord said to me, "Go and stand in the public gate , through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem ; 20 and say to them, ' Listen to the word of the Lord , kings of Judah , and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates : 21 'Thus says the Lord , " Take heed for yourselves , and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem . 22 "You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work , but keep the sabbath day holy , as I commanded your forefathers . 23 "Yet they did not listen or incline their ears , but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction . 24 "But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me," declares the Lord , "to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day , but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no e work on it, 25 then there will come in 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 . 26 "They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem , from the land of Benjamin , from the lowland , from the hill country and from the Negev , bringing burnt offerings , sacrifices , grain offerings and incense , and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord . 27 "But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day , then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched .""'
31 God says , " If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man , Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted ? But you are a harlot with many lovers ; Yet you turn to Me," declares the Lord . 2 "Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see ; Where have you not been violated ? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the desert , And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness . 3 "Therefore the showers have been withheld , And there has been no spring rain . Yet you had a harlot's e forehead ; You refused to be ashamed . 4 "Have you not just now called to Me, ' My Father , You are the friend of my youth ? 5 ' Will He be angry forever ? Will He be indignant to the end ?' Behold , you have spoken And have done evil things , And you have had your way ."
6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king , "Have you seen what faithless Israel did ? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree , and she was a harlot there . 7 " I thought , 'After she has done all these things she will return to Me'; but she did not return , and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 "And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel , I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce , yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear ; but she went and was a harlot also . 9 "Because of the lightness of her harlotry , she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees . 10 "Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart , but rather e in deception ," declares the Lord . 11 And the Lord said to me, " Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah .
12 "Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say , ' Return , faithless Israel ,' declares the Lord ; ' I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious ,' declares the Lord ; 'I will not be angry forever . 13 'Only acknowledge your iniquity , That you have transgressed against the Lord your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree , And you have not obeyed My voice ,' declares the Lord . 14 'Return , O faithless sons ,' declares the Lord ; 'For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family , And I will bring you to Zion .' 15 "Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart , who will feed you on knowledge and understanding . 16 "It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land ," declares the Lord , "they will no longer say , 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord .' And it will not come to mind , nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again . 17 "At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the Lord ,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem , for the name of the Lord ; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart . 18 " In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel , and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance . 19 "Then I said , 'How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land , The most beautiful inheritance of the nations !' And I said , 'You shall call Me, My Father , And not turn away from following Me.'
20 "Surely , as a woman treacherously departs from her lover , So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel ," declares the Lord . 21 A voice is heard on the bare heights , The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel ; Because they have perverted their way , They have forgotten the Lord their God . 22 "Return , O faithless sons , I will heal your faithlessness ." "Behold , we come to You; For You are the Lord our God . 23 "Surely , the hills are a deception , A tumult on the mountains . Surely in the Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel . 24 "But the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth , their flocks and their herds , their sons and their daughters . 25 "Let us lie down in our shame , and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God , we and our fathers , from our youth even to this day . And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God ."
