Jeremias 17

ARC · Chapter 17/52

1O peccado de Judah está escripto com um ponteiro de ferro, com ponta de diamante, gravado na taboa do seu coração e nos cornos dos vossos altares.

2Como tambem seus filhos se lembram dos seus altares, e dos seus bosques junto ás arvores verdes, sobre os altos outeiros.

3A minha montanha juntamente com o campo, a tua riqueza e todos os teus thesouros, darei por preza, como tambem os teus altos, pelo peccado, em todos os teus termos.

4Assim por ti mesmo te deixarás da tua herança que te dei, e far-te-hei servir os teus inimigos, na terra que não conheces; porque o fogo que accendeste na minha ira arderá para sempre.

5Assim diz o Senhor: Maldito o varão que confia no homem, e põe a carne por seu braço, e cujo coração se aparta do Senhor!

6Porque será como a tamargueira no deserto, que não sente quando vem o bem; antes morará nos logares seccos do deserto, na terra salgada e inhabitavel.

7Porém bemdito o varão que confia no Senhor, e cuja confiança é o Senhor.

8Porque será como a arvore plantada junto ás aguas, que estende as suas raizes para o ribeiro, e não sente quando vem o calor, e a sua folha fica verde, e no anno de sequidão não se afadiga, nem deixa de dar fructo.

9Enganoso é o coração, mais do que todas as coisas, e perverso: quem o conhecerá?

10Eu, o Senhor, esquadrinho o coração e experimento os rins: e isto para dar a cada um segundo os seus caminhos e segundo o fructo das suas acções.

11Como a perdiz que ajunta ovos que não choca, assim é o que ajunta riquezas, mas não com direito; no meio de seus dias as deixará, e no seu fim se fará um insensato.

12Um throno de gloria e altura, desde o principio, é o logar do nosso sanctuario.

13Ó Senhor, Esperança d'Israel! todos aquelles que te deixam serão envergonhados e os que se apartam de mim serão escriptos sobre a terra; porque deixam ao Senhor, a fonte das aguas vivas.

14Sara-me, Senhor, e sararei: salva-me, e serei salvo; porque tu és o meu louvor.

15Eis que elles me dizem: Onde está a palavra do Senhor? venha agora.

16Porém eu não me apressei em ser o pastor após ti; nem tão pouco desejei o dia mortal, tu o sabes; o que saiu dos meus labios está diante de tua face

17Não me sejas por espanto: meu refugio és tu no dia do mal.

18Envergonhem-se os que me perseguem, e não me envergonhe eu; assombrem-se elles, e não me assombre eu: traze sobre elles o dia do mal, e com dobrada esmigalhadura os esmigalha.

19Assim me disse o Senhor: Vae, e põe-te á porta dos filhos do povo, pela qual entram os reis de Judah, e pela qual saem; como tambem a todas as portas de Jerusalem.

20E dize-lhes: Ouvi a palavra do Senhor, vós, reis de Judah e todo o Judah, e todos os moradores de Jerusalem, que entraes por estas portas.

21Assim diz o Senhor: Guardae as vossas almas, e não tragaes cargas no dia de sabbado, nem as introduzaes pelas portas de Jerusalem:

22Nem tireis cargas de vossas casas no dia de sabbado, nem façaes obra alguma: antes sanctificae o dia de sabbado, como eu dei ordem a vossos paes.

23Porém não deram ouvidos, nem inclinaram as suas orelhas; mas endureceram a sua cerviz, para não ouvirem, e para não receberem correcção.

24Será pois que, se diligentemente me ouvirdes, diz o Senhor, não introduzindo cargas pelas portas d'esta cidade no dia de sabbado, e sanctificardes o dia de sabbado, não fazendo n'elle obra alguma:

25Então entrarão pelas portas d'esta cidade reis e principes, assentados sobre o throno de David, andando em carros e montados em cavallos, assim elles como os seus principes, os homens de Judah, e os moradores de Jerusalem: e esta cidade será para sempre habitada.

26E virão das cidades de Judah, e dos contornos de Jerusalem, e da terra de Benjamin, e das planicies, e das montanhas, e do sul, trazendo holocaustos, e sacrificios, e offertas de manjares, e incenso, como tambem trazendo sacrificios de louvores á casa do Senhor.

27Porém, se não me derdes ouvidos, para sanctificardes o dia de sabbado, e para não trazerdes carga alguma, quando entrardes pelas portas de Jerusalem no dia de sabbado, então accenderei fogo nas suas portas, que consumirá os palacios de Jerusalem, e não se apagará.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah compares those who trust in man to a shrub in the desert, and those who trust in the Lord to a tree planted by the waters. The chapter closes with a call to keep the Sabbath in Jerusalem.

Explanation

The image of the tree planted by a stream, unafraid of heat and still bearing fruit even in a year of drought, is one of the Bible's best-known metaphors for trust in God — very similar to Psalm 1. The contrast with the 'shrub in the desert,' a hardy plant but isolated in salty land, illustrates the difference between a life rooted in God and a life that depends only on its own resources. The final command about keeping the Sabbath shows how a simple, concrete act of obedience (not working on that day) was directly tied to the people's remaining in the land — the small and the great walk together in faithfulness.

Fun facts

  • The tree planted by the waters is almost identical in wording to Psalm 1:3, suggesting a shared wisdom tradition within Hebrew literature.
  • The 'gates of Jerusalem' mentioned in connection with the Sabbath were real commercial checkpoints of the walled city, where goods entered and left — breaking the Sabbath there had a direct and visible economic impact.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 17:1Saying that the sin is engraved with iron and a diamond point is the opposite of forgetting. It isn’t a passing lapse but something deeply carved, like an inscription in stone that won’t wear off.
  2. Jeremias 17:2The sin engraved on the people’s heart is even passed down to their children: idolatry became a family tradition, handed down as naturally as any other custom.
  3. Jeremias 17:3God announces that all the wealth of the territory, Jerusalem and its surroundings, will be handed over as plunder of war because of the sin spread throughout the land.
  4. Jeremias 17:4Makes clear that the loss of the promised land is the result of the people’s own choice, not a whim of God’s — it was they who “kindled” this wrath with their idolatry.
  5. Jeremias 17:5Opens a piece of wisdom reflection, in the style of Proverbs and Psalms: trusting in human strength while ignoring God is described outright as a curse.
  6. Jeremias 17:6Compares someone who trusts only in himself to a desert shrub, which never enjoys the good seasons because it is rooted in dry, salty ground, unable to thrive.
  7. Jeremias 17:7Makes the direct contrast with verse 5: whoever trusts in God, unlike whoever trusts only in himself, receives blessing instead of a curse.
  8. Jeremias 17:8Compares whoever trusts in God to a well-watered tree, which stays green and fruitful even in a season of drought — resilient precisely because of its secure roots.
  9. Jeremias 17:9The deceitful heart is one of the most quoted verses in the book. It doesn’t speak of a weak heart, but of a heart that deceives its own owner — the idea that no one can fully trust their own moral judgment without some correction from outside.
  10. Jeremias 17:10After saying the human heart is too deceitful to be known even by itself, God states that only He truly examines it, and judges each person by their actual deeds.
  11. Jeremias 17:11Compares someone who grows rich unjustly to a partridge that hatches eggs that are not her own — ill-gotten wealth does not last, and in the end reveals the folly of whoever chased it that way.
  12. Jeremias 17:12After so much criticism, this verse is almost a pause for praise: it acknowledges the temple as a place of honor from the very beginning, even though it will be destroyed because of sin.
  13. Jeremias 17:13Returns to the central image of chapter 2: abandoning God, called the fountain of living waters, is the root of all the shame and ruin the people are about to face.
  14. Jeremias 17:14Here Jeremiah begins speaking in personal prayer, asking for healing and salvation directly from God — a sincere cry for help in the middle of a difficult mission.
  15. Jeremias 17:15Jeremiah reports the mockery he suffers: people openly doubt his prophecies, daring him to show whether the announced judgment will actually happen.
  16. Jeremias 17:16Jeremiah defends himself: he did not want to announce disaster for pleasure or in haste — everything he said, God knows, was faithful to the mission received, not his own invention.
  17. Jeremias 17:17Jeremiah asks that God not also become a source of terror for him, since it is precisely in God that he seeks refuge for the difficult day ahead.
  18. Jeremias 17:18Jeremiah asks that shame and punishment fall on his persecutors, not on him — an outpouring from someone worn out from being attacked for carrying out the mission.
  19. Jeremias 17:19God tells Jeremiah to preach at a busy spot, where kings and common people pass by — the next topic, the Sabbath, needs to reach everyone.
  20. Jeremias 17:20Specifically calls kings and common people together to hear the next message, showing that the requirement to keep the Sabbath applied to every level of society.
  21. Jeremias 17:21The sermon about keeping the Sabbath seems like an isolated topic amid so much politics and war, but for Jeremiah it was a practical, visible test of obedience. Every Sabbath, at the city gates, you could see whether the people were taking the covenant seriously or not.
  22. Jeremias 17:22Details the practical requirement: no working or carrying loads on the Sabbath — a visible commandment, easy to verify publicly, unlike inward sins.
  23. Jeremias 17:23Acknowledges that this specific requirement was also ignored by the people, repeating the pattern of stubbornness already seen in Jeremiah’s other speeches.
  24. Jeremias 17:24God presents a concrete, visible condition: keeping the Sabbath properly would be practical proof that the people were taking the covenant seriously.
  25. Jeremias 17:25The reward for keeping the Sabbath would be enormous: the permanence of David’s dynasty on the throne and the continuity of Jerusalem as an inhabited city forever.
  26. Jeremias 17:26Describes a vision of prosperity: people coming from every part of the region to bring offerings to the temple, a sign of a nation living in peace and faithfulness.
  27. Jeremias 17:27Closes the chapter with the opposite consequence: if the Sabbath is not respected, the fire of judgment will consume the city without stopping.

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