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with the point of a hard flint tool
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts,
and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles,
beside the luxuriant trees,
and on the high hills.
3 O My mountain in the land,
your wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,
together with all your high places,
because of all the sin within your borders.
4 Then you, even you, will relinquish
your inheritance which I gave you;
I will cause you to serve your enemies
in a land that you do not know,
for you have kindled My anger,
and it will burn forever.”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mortal man,
who makes flesh his strength,
and turns his heart from the Lord.
6 He will be like a bush in the desert,
not seeing good when it comes,
but inhabiting the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salty wasteland where no one lives.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
and whose confidence is in the Lord.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the waters,
that spreads its roots out by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes,
but its leaves always remain green.
It is not anxious in a year of drought
and it does not cease producing fruit.
9 “The heart is deceitful above everything else,
and desperately sick.
Who can understand it?
10 “I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
to give to each man according to his ways,
according to what his deeds deserve.
11 “Like the partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay,
so is the man who gains riches by unjust means.
In the midst of his days it will leave him,
and in the end he will be a fool.”
12 A throne of glory,
exalted on high from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake You will be put to shame.
“All who turn away from Me
will be written in the dust,
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the fountain of living water.”
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for You are my praise.
15 See how they keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 But I have not run away from being Your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of despair.
You know the words that pass forth from my lips;
they are ever before You.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
You are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame;
but do not let me be shamed;
let them be terrified,
but do not let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction!
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, and in all of the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and all the people of Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: “Take heed to yourselves; do not carry a load on the Sabbath day and bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. 23 But they would not listen or incline their ear; but instead they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction.
24 “But if you are careful to obey Me”, declares the Lord, “to not bring any loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, and ride in chariots and on horses with their officials, accompanied by the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and the Judean foothills, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, frankincense, and thank offerings to the House of the Lord.
27 “But if you will not obey Me, to keep the Sabbath day holy and not carry any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will consume the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched” ’.”