Jeremiah

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

1Judah's sin is written down with an iron pen. It is cut with a diamond point into their hearts and into the corners of their altars.

2Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

2Even their children remember those altars and the Asherah poles beside green trees and on the high hills.

NoteThe KJV says "groves." These were wooden poles set up to honor the goddess Asherah, not groups of trees.

3O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

3My mountain out in the countryside, I will hand over your wealth and all your treasures to be taken away. This is because of the sin at your worship sites all through your land.

4And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

4You yourself will let go of the land I gave you to keep. I will make you serve your enemies in a country you do not know. You have lit my anger, and it will burn forever.

5Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

5This is what the LORD says: Trouble comes to the man who trusts in people, who leans on human strength and turns his heart away from the LORD.

6For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

6He will be like a bush in the desert that never sees good times come. He will live in dry, empty places, in salty ground where no one lives.

7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

7But good things come to the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

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

8He is like a tree planted by water, sending its roots down to the stream. It is not afraid when the heat comes, and its leaves stay green. It does not worry in a dry year, and it never stops making fruit.

9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

9The heart fools us more than anything else, and it cannot be cured. Who can understand it?

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

10I, the LORD, look into the heart. I test the mind. I give each person what his life and his actions deserve.

NoteThe KJV says "try the reins." "Reins" meant the kidneys, which people then spoke of as the seat of a person's inner thoughts. It means God tests the mind.

11As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

11A man who gets rich by cheating is like a bird sitting on eggs it did not lay. His riches will leave him halfway through his life, and in the end he will look like a fool.

12A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

12A glorious throne, lifted high from the beginning, is the place of our holy temple.

13O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

13LORD, you are Israel's hope. Everyone who leaves you will be ashamed. Those who turn away will be written in the dust, because they have left the LORD, the spring of living water.

14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

14Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved, because you are the one I praise.

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

15Look, they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it happen now!"

16As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

16But I have not run away from being your shepherd. I never wanted the day of disaster to come. You know that everything I said was said in front of you.

NoteThe KJV word "pastor" here means shepherd. Jeremiah is saying he did not quit the job God gave him.

17Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

17Do not become something I dread. You are my safe place on the day trouble comes.

18Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

18Let the people who hunt me down be put to shame, but do not let me be shamed. Let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring the day of disaster on them and break them completely.

19Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

19This is what the LORD said to me: Go and stand at the gate where the people pass, the one the kings of Judah use going in and out. Then stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem.

20And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

20Say to them: Listen to the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem who come through these gates.

21Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

21This is what the LORD says: Be careful. Do not carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring one through the gates of Jerusalem.

22Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

22Do not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath, and do not do any work. Keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your fathers long ago.

23But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

23But they would not listen or pay attention. They were stubborn and refused to hear or accept correction.

24And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;

24But if you listen to me carefully, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, and keep that day holy by doing no work on it,

25Then shall there 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 for ever.

25then kings and princes will come through the gates of this city. They will sit on David's throne and ride in chariots and on horses, along with their officials, the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem. And this city will always have people living in it.

26And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

26People will come from the towns of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the low hills, the hill country, and the dry south. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense, and offerings of thanks to the LORD's house.

NoteA "meat offering" in the KJV is an offering of grain, not meat. In 1611, "meat" meant food of any kind.

27But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

27But if you will not listen to me and keep the Sabbath holy, and if you carry loads through the gates of Jerusalem on that day, then I will set fire to those gates. The fire will burn up the strong buildings of Jerusalem, and no one will put it out.