Jeremiah 17:1-18

The Deceitful Heart

1 The ¹sin of Judah is written down with an ²iron stylus; With a diamond point it is ³engraved upon the tablet of their heart And on the horns of their altars,

2 As they remember their ⁴children, So they remember their altars and their ⁵Asherim By ⁶green trees on the high hills.

3 O ⁷mountain of Mine in the countryside, I will ⁸give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty, Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

4 And you will, even of yourself, ⁹let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your ¹⁰enemies In the ¹¹land which you do not know; For you have ¹²kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever *.

5 Thus says the LORD, "¹³Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes ¹⁴flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 "For he will be like a ¹⁵bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A ¹⁶land of salt without inhabitant.

7 "¹⁷Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose ¹⁸trust is the LORD.

8 "For he will be like a ¹⁹tree 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 ²⁰drought Nor cease to yield fruit.

9 "The ²¹heart is more ²²deceitful than all else And is desperately ²³sick; Who can understand it?

10 "I, the LORD, ²⁴search the heart, I test the mind, Even ²⁵to 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 ²⁶makes a fortune, but unjustly *; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a ²⁷fool."

12 ²⁸A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O LORD, the ²⁹hope of Israel, All who ³⁰forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be ³¹written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.

14 ³²Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; ³³Save me and I will be saved, For You are my ³⁴praise.

15 Look, they keep ³⁵saying 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; ³⁶You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips Was in Your presence.

17 Do not be a ³⁷terror to me; You are my ³⁸refuge in the day of disaster.

18 Let those who persecute me be ³⁹put to shame, but as for me, ⁴⁰let me not be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. ⁴¹Bring on them a day of disaster, And crush them with twofold destruction!

Read Chapter Compare

Images for Jeremiah 17:1-18

Jeremiah 17:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 17

This chapter is a further prophecy of the destruction of the Jews, with the causes of it, their sins, as their idolatry, which was notorious; of which their own consciences, their altars, and their children, were witnesses, Jer 17:1,2 for which they are threatened with the spoil of their substance and treasure, and discontinuance in their land, Jer 17:3,4 as also their confidence in an arm of flesh, which brought the curse of God upon them, when such are blessed that trust in him; and the difference between those that trust in men and those that trust in the Lord is illustrated by very apt similes, Jer 17:5-8, the source of which vain confidence is the wicked heart of man, known to none but God, Jer 17:9,10 and the vanity of it is exposed by a partridge sitting on eggs without hatching them, Jer 17:11, and their departure from God, by trusting in the creature, and in outward things, is aggravated by their temple being the throne and seat of the divine Majesty; by what God is to his people that trust in him; and by the shame and ruin that follow an apostasy from him, Jer 17:12,13, wherefore the prophet, sensible of his own backslidings, prays to be healed and saved by the Lord, who should have all the praise and glory, Jer 17:14 and then relates the scoffs of the people at the word of God by him, another cause of their ruin; declares his own innocence and integrity; prays for protection and security from fear in a time of trouble; and for confusion, terror, and destruction to his persecutors, Jer 17:15-18, then follows an order to him from the Lord, to go and stand in the gate of the city, and exhort all ranks of men to the observation of the sabbath, with directions how to keep it, which had not been observed by their fathers, and which was another cause of their ruin, Jer 17:19-23, and the chapter is closed with promises of blessings in city, court, and country, in church and state, should they religiously observe the sabbath day; but if they profaned it, the city of Jerusalem, and its palaces, should be burnt with fire, Jer 17:24-27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 41

1. Jeremiah 2:22; Jeremiah 4:14
2. Job 19:24
3. Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 7:3; Isaiah 49:16; 2 Corinthians 3:3
4. Jeremiah 7:18
5. Exodus 34:13; 2 Chronicles 24:18; 2 Chronicles 33:3; Isaiah 17:8
6. Jeremiah 3:6
7. Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12
8. 2 Kings 24:13; Isaiah 39:4-6; Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 20:5
9. Jeremiah 12:7; Lamentations 5:2
10. Deuteronomy 28:48; Isaiah 14:3; Jeremiah 15:14; Jeremiah 27:12, 13
11. Jeremiah 16:13
12. Isaiah 5:25; Jeremiah 7:20; Jeremiah 15:14
13. Psalms 146:3; Isaiah 2:22; Isaiah 30:1; Ezekiel 29:7
14. 2 Chronicles 32:8; Isaiah 31:3
15. Jeremiah 48:6
16. Deuteronomy 29:23; Job 39:6
17. Psalms 2:12; Psalms 34:8; Psalms 84:12; Proverbs 16:20
18. Psalms 40:4
19. Psalms 1:3; Psalms 92:12-14; Ezekiel 31:3-9
20. Jeremiah 14:1-6
21. Ecclesiastes 9:3; Mark 7:21, 22
22. Romans 7:11; Ephesians 4:22
23. Isaiah 1:5, 6; Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:15; Mark 2:17; Romans 1:21
24. 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 139:23; Proverbs 17:3; Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 20:12; Romans 8:27; Revelation 2:23
25. Psalms 62:12; Jeremiah 32:19; Romans 2:6
26. Jeremiah 6:13; Jeremiah 8:10; Jeremiah 22:13, 17
27. Luke 12:20
28. Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 14:21
29. Jeremiah 14:8; Jeremiah 50:7
30. Isaiah 1:28
31. Luke 10:20
32. Jeremiah 30:17; Jeremiah 33:6
33. Psalms 54:1; Psalms 60:5
34. Deuteronomy 10:21; Psalms 109:1
35. Isaiah 5:19; 2 Peter 3:4
36. Jeremiah 12:3
37. Psalms 88:15
38. Jeremiah 16:19; Nahum 1:7
39. Psalms 35:4, 26; Jeremiah 17:13; Jeremiah 20:11
40. Jeremiah 1:17
41. Psalms 35:8

Footnotes 8

[a]. So ancient versions; M.T. "your"
[b]. I.e. wooden symbols of a female deity
[c]. Lit "arm"
[d]. Lit "and is not inhabited"
[e]. Lit "kidneys"
[f]. Lit "fruit"
[g]. Lit "his"
[h]. Lit "away from Me"