1. “The sin of the people of Judah is written with an iron tool.Their sins were cut with a hard point into the stone that is their hearts.Their sins were cut into the corners of their altars.
2. Even their children remembertheir altars to idols and their Asherah idolsbeside the green treesand on the high hills.
3. My mountain in the open countryand your wealth and treasuresI will give away to other people.I will give away the places of worship in your country,because you sinned by worshiping there.
4. You will lose the land I gave you,and it is your own fault.I will let your enemies take you as their slavesto a land you have never known.This is because you have made my anger burn like a hot fire,and it will burn forever.”
5. This is what the Lord says:“A curse is placed on those who trust other people,who depend on humans for strength,who have stopped trusting the Lord.
6. They are like a bush in a desertthat grows in a land where no one lives,a hot and dry land with bad soil.They don’t know about the good things God can give.
7. “But the person who trusts in the Lord will be blessed.The Lord will show him that he can be trusted.
8. He will be strong, like a tree planted near waterthat sends its roots by a stream.It is not afraid when the days are hot;its leaves are always green.It does not worry in a year when no rain comes;it always produces fruit.
9. “More than anything else, a person’s mind is eviland cannot be healed.Who can understand it?
10. But I, the Lord, look into a person’s heartand test the mind.So I can decide what each one deserves;I can give each one the right payment for what he does.”
11. Like a bird hatching an egg it did not lay,so are the people who get rich by cheating.When their lives are half finished, they will lose their riches.At the end of their lives, it will be clear they were fools.
12. From the beginning, our Temple has been honoredas a glorious throne for God.