Jeremiah 17:8-18

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be fatigued in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who shall know it?

10 I the LORD search the heart; I try the kidneys, even to give each man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.

11 As the partridge that steals that which she did not hatch, is he that gets riches and not with righteousness; in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and at his end shall be a fool.

12 The throne of glory, height from the beginning, is the place of our sanctification.

13 O hope of Israel! LORD, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed; and those that depart from me shall be written in the dust 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 thou art my praise.

15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

16 For I did not take it upon myself to be a pastor following thee; neither have I desired the woeful day; thou dost know: that which came out of my lips has come forth in thy presence.

17 Do not be a terror unto me; thou art my hope in the day of evil.

18 Let them be confounded that 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.

Jeremiah 17:8-18 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.