The captivity of Judah for her sin, 1-4. Trust in man is cursed, 5, 6; in God is blessed, 7, 8. The deceitful heart cannot deceive God, 9-11. The salvation of God, 12-14. The prophet complains about the mockers of his prophecy, 15-18. He is sent to renew the covenant in hallowing the sabbath, 19-27.
1 The sin of Judah is written/
with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond./
It is engraved upon the tablet of their heart/
and upon the horns of your altars,
2 While their children remember their altars/
and their groves by the green trees/
upon the high hills.
3 O my mountain in the field,/
I will give your substance/
and all your treasures as plunder,/
and your high places for sin,/
throughout all your borders.
4 And you, even yourself,/
shall discontinue from your heritage/
that I gave you,/
and I will cause you to serve your enemies/
in the land which you do not know,/
for you have kindled a fire in my anger/
which shall burn forever.
5 Thus says the LORD:/
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man/
and makes his arm flesh,/
and whose heart departs from the LORD,
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert./
It shall not see when good comes,/
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,/
in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD/
and whose hope is the LORD,
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters/
that spreads out its roots by the river./
It shall not see when heat comes,/
but its leaf shall be green./
It shall not be anxious in the year of drought,/
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things/
and desperately wicked. Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart./
I try the mind,/
even to give every man according to his ways/
and according to the fruit of his doings.
11 As the partridge sits on eggs and does not hatch them,/
so he who gets riches, and not by right,/
shall leave them in the midst of his days,/
and at his end shall be a fool."
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning/
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel,/
all who forsake you shall be ashamed,/
and those who depart from me/
shall be written in the earth,/
because they have forsaken the LORD,/
the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed./
Save me, and I shall be saved,/
for you are my praise.
15 Behold, they say to me,/
"Where is the word of the LORD?/
Let it come now."
16 As for me, I have not hastened/
from being a pastor to follow you,/
neither have I desired the woeful day./
You know that which was uttered by my lips/
was right before you.
17 Do not be a terror to me./
You are my hope in the day of evil.
18 Let them be confounded who persecute me,/
but do not let me be confounded./
Let them be dismayed,/
but do not let me be dismayed./
Bring upon them the day of evil/
and destroy them with double destruction.
19 Thus the LORD said to me: "Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 And say to them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day; neither do any work, but hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they did not obey, nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff so that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
24 "And it shall come to pass, if you diligently listen to me," says the LORD, "to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day and do no work therein, 25 Then there shall enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon 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 shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the plain, from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt-offerings, sacrifices, food-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of the LORD. 27 But if you will not listen to me to hallow the sabbath day, and to bear no burdens while entering at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched."'"
Matthew Henry Commentary - Jeremiah, Chapter 17[➚]
[v.8] - The part of this verse speaking of the tree was in the KJV in the feminine gender. It has been changed to the neuter here to clarify that the tree is the subject of the illustration given in this part of the comparison from verse 6.
[v.10] - "I, the LORD, search the heart" - Reference, 1st Chronicles 28:9, 29:17; Psalms 7:9; Proverbs 17:3; Jeremiah 11:20; Romans 8:27; 1st Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 2:23.