1 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;
2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
3 O 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.
4 And 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.
5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
6 For 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.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
8 For 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.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I 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.
11 As 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.
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O 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.
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 As 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.
17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
18 Let 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.
19 Thus 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;
20 And 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:
21 Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
22 Neither 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.
23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
24 And 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;
25 Then 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.
26 And 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.
27 But 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.
<html><b>with a pen of iron</b> This is an allegory. That is to say that it is deeply engraved, and cannot be erased. And the Midrash Aggadah explains: with a pen of iron, with a diamond point, preserved by Jeremiah, called ‘an iron wall,’ and by Ezekiel, to whom it was said (3:9): “As a diamond, harder than flint have I made your forehead.” <b>engraved</b> Engraved like one who plows deeply. <b>on the tablet of their heart</b> that they do not forget their idolatry.</html>
<html><b>As they remember their children, [so do they remember] their altars</b> Like the remembrance of their children, so was the remembrance of their altars to them, like a man who longs for his son. <b>and their asherim</b> which are by the green trees. <b>by…trees</b> like אֵצֶּל, by. And Jonathan renders in this manner. under every green tree.</html>
<html><b>You, who sit upon the mountain in the field</b> Jerusalem that is situated on the mountain of the plain. All around the city is a fielded plain. The structure of הֲרָרִי is like עֲרָבִי, called so because he dwells in the plain (עֲרָבָה) (montanyers in O.F), mountain dwellers (other versions: a mountain dweller). <b>your substance</b> like מָמוֹנְךָ, your money. <b>Your high places are made for sin</b> Your high places are made in sin for the purpose of idolatry within all your borders.</html>
<html><b>And you shall release</b> Perforce you will release your land for the time that it did not rest on your Sabbaths, which I said to you (Lev. 25:2), “And the land shall rest a Sabbath for the Lord.” <b>of you</b> I will avenge Myself of you because of your heritage that I gave you, that you did not perform My will to release it. Another explanation: even of you, from your heritage; I will avenge Myself of you from your heritage, that I will exile you from it. <b>for you have kindled fire in My nostrils</b> Heb. קְדַכְתֶּם.</html>
<html><b>who trusts in man</b> In his plowing and his harvest, saying, “I will sow during the seventh year and I will eat.” <b>his arm</b> Like ‘his help,’ and so did Jonathan render: his trust. <b>and whose heart turns away from the Lord</b> Who promised him (Lev. 25:21), “And I will command My blessing to you.” This is what I heard.</html>
<html><b>like a lonely tree</b> like a lonely tree, an expression of (Gen. 15:2) “Childless (עֲרִירִי),” and some say (degat in O.F) laid waste, and Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 137) explained: The name of a tree of the forest trees, and its name is ar’ar, and this is the explanation of (infra 48.6) “Like an ‘aroer’ in the desert,” one of the trees of the forest. <b>in the plain</b> an expression of a plain. <b>parched land</b> aridness. Comp. (Job 30:30) “Became dry (חָרָה) from heat.” <b>salt-sodden soil</b> Land that is salty and will not be settled.</html>
<html><b>and will not see</b> The tree will not see when heat comes. <b>drought</b> an expression of hunger, (famine in French). Another interpretation: בַּצֹרֶת is an expression of fortification (מִבְצָר), and in this manner, Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 47) classified it. <b>will not be anxious</b> will not be afraid.</html>
<html><b>The heart is deceitful</b> Full of pretext and deceit of all evil. <b>and when it is sick</b> an expression of sickness, and this is its sickness. <b>who recognizes it?</b> He thinks, “Who recognizes it?” I, the Lord, search it.</html>
<html><b>The cuckoo calls</b> (Coucou glousse in French). <b>but has not laid</b> This cuckoo draws after it chicks that it did not lay. דָגָר - This is the chirping which the bird chirps with its voice to draw the chicks after it, but those whom the cuckoo called will not follow it when they grow up for they are not of its kind. So is one who gathers riches but not by right. <b>he stands dishonored</b> He is called wicked.</html>
<html><b>As a Throne of Glory</b> Since he wishes to state: All that forsake You shall be shamed, he commences with the praise of the Omnipresent, and says before Him, “You, Whose Throne of Glory is exalted from the beginning of the Creation of the world and is directed opposite our Sanctuary.”</html>
<html><b>The Lord Who is the source of the hopes of Israel</b> sits upon it. Therefore, all that forsake You shall be shamed. <b>and they that turn away from me shall be marked on the earth</b> Those who turn away from my words, who do not hearken to my message, will be marked out in the nether graves of the earth.</html>
<html><b>for You are my praise</b> I praise myself and boast with You, saying that You are my Savior. <b>my praise</b> (vantance in O.F.), boast.</html>
<html><b>“Where is the word of the Lord?</b> The retribution which you prophesy.</html>
<html><b>But I did not hasten</b> I did not hasten to urge You to bring them because I am a good shepherd, who goes after You to beg mercy for them. <b>and…the woeful day</b> The illness of their retribution I did not desire. Jonathan renders: And I did not hamper Your word from prophesying concerning them to return them to fear You. According to the Targum, אַצְתִּי is an expression of hampering. That is to say, I did not hesitate from telling them Your message and to return them to you if they would hearken to me. <b>What came out of my lips was before Your face</b> to return Your wrath from them.</html>
<html><b>Let it not be to me for a ruin</b> Let not Your mission be to me for a ruin.</html>
<html><b>May my pursuers be shamed</b> i.e., the men of Anathoth alone.</html>
<html><b>But they did not hearken</b> i.e., your forefathers did not hearken to what I commanded them.</html>
<html><b>and to come</b> like וְלָבֹא.</html>