Jeremiah 17:12-18

12 1A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the 2hope of Israel, All who 3forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be 4written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.
14 5Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; 6Save me and I will be saved, For You are my 7praise.
15 Look, they keep 8saying 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; 9You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips Was in Your presence.
17 Do not be a 10terror to me; You are my 11refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let those who persecute me be 12put to shame, but as for me, 13let me not be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. 14Bring on them a day of disaster, And crush them with twofold destruction!

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Jeremiah 17:12-18 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.

Cross References 14

  • 1. Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 14:21
  • 2. Jeremiah 14:8; Jeremiah 50:7
  • 3. Isaiah 1:28
  • 4. Luke 10:20
  • 5. Jeremiah 30:17; Jeremiah 33:6
  • 6. Psalms 54:1; Psalms 60:5
  • 7. Deuteronomy 10:21; Psalms 109:1
  • 8. Isaiah 5:19; 2 Peter 3:4
  • 9. Jeremiah 12:3
  • 10. Psalms 88:15
  • 11. Jeremiah 16:19; Nahum 1:7
  • 12. Psalms 35:4, 26; Jeremiah 17:13; Jeremiah 20:11
  • 13. Jeremiah 1:17
  • 14. Psalms 35:8

Footnotes 1

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