Jeremiah · Bible in Basic English
Jeremiah 17 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 The sin of Judah is recorded with a pen of iron, and with the sharp point of a jewel it is cut on their hearts of stone, and on the horns of their altars for a sign to them:
1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.
2 Their altars and their wood pillars under every branching tree, on the high hills and the mountains in the field.
2 Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by the green trees on the high hills.
3 I will give your wealth and all your stores to be taken away in war without a price, because of your sins in every part of your land.
3 My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a plunder, and your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.
4 And your hand will have to let go your heritage which I gave you; and I will make you a servant to your haters in a land which is strange to you: for you have put my wrath on fire with a flame which will go on burning for ever.
4 You, even of yourself, will discontinue from your heritage that I gave you. I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you don’t know, for you have kindled a fire in my anger which will burn forever.”
5 This is what the Lord has said: Cursed is the man who puts his faith in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart is turned away from the Lord.
5 Yahweh says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, relies on strength of flesh, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
6 For he will be like the brushwood in the upland, and will not see when good comes; but his living-place will be in the dry places in the waste land, in a salt and unpeopled land.
6 For he will be like a bush in the desert, and will not see when good comes, but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, an uninhabited salt land.
7 A blessing is on the man who puts his faith in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.
8 For he will be like a tree planted by the waters, pushing out its roots by the stream; he will have no fear when the heat comes, but his leaf will be green; in a dry year he will have no care, and will go on giving fruit.
8 For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be concerned in the year of drought. It won’t cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of it?
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
10 I the Lord am the searcher of the heart, the tester of the thoughts, so that I may give to every man the reward of his ways, in keeping with the fruit of his doings.
10 “I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
11 Like the partridge, getting eggs together but not producing young, is a man who gets wealth but not by right; before half his days are ended, it will go from him, and at his end he will be foolish.
11 As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right. In the middle of his days, they will leave him. At his end, he will be a fool.
12 A seat of glory, placed on high from the first, is our holy place.
12 A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who give you up will be put to shame; those who go away from you will be cut off from the earth, because they have given up the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
13 Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.
14 Make me well, O Lord, and I will be well; be my saviour, and I will be safe: for you are my hope.
14 Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved; for you are my praise.
15 See, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.
15 Behold, they ask me, “Where is Yahweh’s word? Let it be fulfilled now.”
16 As for me, I have not said; Let the day of trouble come to them quickly; and I have not been hoping for the death-giving day; you have knowledge of what came from my lips; it was open before you.
16 As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.
17 Be not a cause of fear to me: you are my safe place in the day of evil.
17 Don’t be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil.
18 Let them be put to shame who are attacking me, but let me not be shamed; let them be overcome with fear, but let me not be overcome: send on them the day of evil, and put them to destruction twice over.
18 Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but don’t let me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
19 This is what the Lord has said to me: Go and take your place in the doorway of Benjamin, where the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the doorways of Jerusalem;
19 Yahweh said this to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through 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, Give ear to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who come in by these doors:
20 Tell them, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word, you kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
21 This is what the Lord has said: See to yourselves, that you take up no weight on the Sabbath day, or take it in through the doors of Jerusalem;
21 Yahweh says, “Be careful, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.
22 And take no weight out of your houses on the Sabbath day, or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I gave orders to your fathers;
22 Don’t carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Don’t do any work, but make the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.
23 But they gave no attention and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff so that they might not give ear and might not get teaching.
23 But they didn’t listen. They didn’t turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
24 And it will be, that if with all care you give ear to me, says the Lord, and take no weight through the doorways of this town on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work in it;
24 It will happen, if you diligently listen to me,” says Yahweh, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;
25 Then through the doors of this town there will come kings and princes, seated on the seat of David, going in carriages and on horseback, they and their princes, and the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: and this town will keep its place for ever.
25 then there will enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on David’s throne, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will remain forever.
26 And they will come from the towns of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands, and from the mountains, and from the South, with burned offerings and offerings of beasts and meal offerings and perfume and offerings of praise, to the house of the Lord.
26 They will come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to Yahweh’s house.
27 But if you do not give ear to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and to let no weight be lifted and taken through the doors of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: then I will put a fire in its doorways, burning up the great houses of Jerusalem, and it will never be put out.
27 But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at 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. It will not be quenched.”’”
Cross references (27)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Proverbs 3:3; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Proverbs 7:3; Leviticus 4:25; Job 19:23–24
- 2 2 Chronicles 24:18; Jeremiah 2:20; Judges 3:7; 2 Chronicles 33:3; Isaiah 17:8
- 3 Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 26:18; 2 Kings 24:13; Isaiah 39:4–6; Ezekiel 6:3
- 4 Jeremiah 15:14; Lamentations 5:2; Isaiah 5:25; Jeremiah 7:20; Mark 9:43–49
- 5 Psalm 118:8–9; Psalm 146:3–4; Isaiah 2:22; 2 Chronicles 32:8; Isaiah 31:1–9
- 6 Job 20:17; Psalm 1:4; Deuteronomy 29:23; Job 39:6; Jeremiah 48:6
- 7 Isaiah 26:3–4; Psalm 34:8; Psalm 40:4; Psalm 125:1; Isaiah 30:18
- 8 Psalm 1:3; Isaiah 58:11; Ezekiel 47:12; Ezekiel 31:4–10; Psalm 92:10–15
- 9 Mark 7:21–22; Matthew 15:19; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Proverbs 28:26; Hebrews 3:12
- 10 1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 8:27; Jeremiah 11:20; Revelation 2:23; Hebrews 4:12–13
- 11 Proverbs 28:20; Proverbs 21:6; Jeremiah 22:17; Jeremiah 22:13; Proverbs 15:27
- 12 Psalm 96:6; Jeremiah 3:17; Ezekiel 43:7; Ezekiel 1:26; Jeremiah 14:21
- 13 Revelation 7:17; John 4:14; John 7:37–38; John 4:10; Revelation 22:1
- 14 Psalm 6:2; Deuteronomy 32:39; Psalm 106:47; Psalm 6:4; Luke 4:18
- 15 Isaiah 5:19; Ezekiel 12:22; Jeremiah 20:7–8; Ezekiel 12:27–28; Amos 5:18
- 16 Acts 20:27; Jeremiah 4:19–20; Acts 20:20; Romans 9:1–3; Ezekiel 33:7–9
- 17 Nahum 1:7; Jeremiah 16:19; Psalm 59:16; Psalm 88:15–16; Job 31:23
- 18 Psalm 35:4; Psalm 40:14; Psalm 25:2–3; Psalm 83:17–18; Jeremiah 20:11
- 19 Jeremiah 7:2; Jeremiah 26:2; Acts 5:20; Jeremiah 36:10; Jeremiah 36:6
- 20 Jeremiah 19:3; Jeremiah 22:2; Ezekiel 2:7; Psalm 49:1–2; Micah 3:1
- 21 Nehemiah 13:15–21; Numbers 15:32–36; John 5:9–12; Deuteronomy 4:15; Deuteronomy 4:9
- 22 Ezekiel 20:12; Exodus 20:8–10; Isaiah 56:2–6; Isaiah 58:13; Deuteronomy 5:12–15
- 23 Proverbs 29:1; Acts 7:51; Jeremiah 19:15; Jeremiah 11:10; Jeremiah 7:24–26
- 24 Deuteronomy 11:13; Jeremiah 17:21–22; 2 Peter 1:5–10; Exodus 15:26; Isaiah 21:7
- 25 Jeremiah 22:4; Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 33:15; Jeremiah 33:17; Jeremiah 33:21
- 26 Jeremiah 32:44; Jeremiah 33:13; Zechariah 7:7; Psalm 107:22; Psalm 116:17
- 27 2 Kings 25:9; Jeremiah 7:20; Jeremiah 21:14; Ezekiel 22:8; Amos 1:14
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… Christ above, who extended himself through Horos, and imparted a form to their mother; or is it He who is from the Virgin, Emmanuel, who did eat butter and honey, of whom the prophet declared, "He is also a man, and who shall know him?" He was likewise preached by Paul: "For I delivered," he says, "unto you first of …
… called his name Enos, which means man," and "He hoped to call on the name of the Lord God," are sufficient proof that man ought not to rest his hopes in himself; as it is elsewhere written, "Cursed is the man that trusteth in man." Consequently no one ought to trust in himself that he shall become a citizen of …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… to know men's secrets, hear what saith the prophet, "Thou most entirely alone knowest the hearts;" and again, "God trieth the hearts and reins; " and Jeremiah too saith, "The heart is deep above all things, and it is man, and who shall know him?" and, "Man shall look on the face, but God on the heart." And by many …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… lying images, wherein there is no profit." But that the Jews, by whom He behoved even to be slain, were not going to acknowledge Him, this prophet thus intimates: "Heavy is the heart through all; and He is a man, and who shall know Him?" That passage also is his which I have quoted in the seventeenth book concerning the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For inasmuch as they continually disbelieved the prophets, and used to say, "Where is the day of the Lord:" and "let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it," by reason that it was many years before what they said came to pass; to lead them off from this encouragement also, he sets the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)