11 A partridge hatching, and not bringing forth, `Is' one making wealth, and not by right, In the midst of his days he doth forsake it, And in his latter end -- he is a fool.
Whoso is multiplying his wealth by biting and usury, For one favouring the poor doth gather it.
`And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be?
The making of treasures by a lying tongue, `Is' a vanity driven away of those seeking death.
A dishonest gainer is troubling his house, And whoso is hating gifts liveth.
And Thou, O God, dost bring them down To a pit of destruction, Men of blood and deceit reach not to half their days, And I -- I do trust in Thee!
Wealth from vanity becometh little, And whoso is gathering by the hand becometh great.
There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept for its possessor, for his evil. And that wealth hath been lost in an evil business, and he hath begotten a son and there is nothing in his hand! As he came out from the belly of his mother, naked he turneth back to go as he came, and he taketh not away anything of his labour, that doth go in his hand. And this also `is' a painful evil, just as he came, so he goeth, and what advantage `is' to him who laboureth for wind?
But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.
Do not these -- all of them -- against him a simile taken up, And a moral of acute sayings for him, And say, Wo `to' him who is multiplying `what is' not his? Till when also is he multiplying to himself heavy pledges? Do not thy usurers instantly rise up, And those shaking thee awake up, And thou hast been for a spoil to them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, Spoil thee do all the remnant of the peoples, Because of man's blood, and of violence `to' the land, `To' the city, and `to' all dwelling in it. Wo `to' him who is gaining evil gain for his house, To set on high his nest, To be delivered from the hand of evil, Thou hast counselled a shameful thing to thy house, To cut off many peoples, and sinful `is' thy soul. For a stone from the wall doth cry out, And a holdfast from the wood answereth it. Wo `to' him who is building a city by blood, And establishing a city by iniquity.
And I have laid a charge on every one Who is leaping over the threshold in that day, Who are filling the house of their masters `With' violence and deceit.
and those wishing to be rich, do fall into temptation and a snare, and many desires, foolish and hurtful, that sink men into ruin and destruction,
and in covetousness, with moulded words, of you they shall make merchandise, whose judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction doth not slumber.
your gold and silver have rotted, and the rust of them for a testimony shall be to you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye made treasure in the last days! lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered; ye did live in luxury upon the earth, and were wanton; ye did nourish your hearts, as in a day of slaughter;
Wo `to' those devising iniquity, And working evil on their beds, In the light of the morning they do it, For their hand is -- to God. And they have desired fields, And they have taken violently, And houses, and they have taken away, And have oppressed a man and his house, Even a man and his inheritance.
For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
Thy princes `are' apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them. Therefore -- the affirmation of the Lord -- Jehovah of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I am eased of Mine adversaries, And I am avenged of Mine enemies,
As a cage full of fowls, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich. They have been fat, they have shone, Yea, they have overpassed the acts of the evil, Judgment they have not judged, The judgment of the fatherless -- and they prosper, And the judgment of the needy they have not judged.
A bribe they have taken in thee to shed blood, Usury and increase thou hast taken, And cuttest off thy neighbour by oppression, And Me thou hast forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah! And lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of thy dishonest gain that thou hast gained, And for thy blood that hath been in thy midst.
Canaan! in his hand `are' balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved. And Ephraim saith: `Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labours -- they find not against me iniquity that `is' sin.'
And they have not known to act straightforwardly, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are treasuring up violence and spoil in their palaces.
Hear this, ye who are swallowing up the needy, To cause to cease the poor of the land, Saying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit. To purchase with money the poor, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Yea, the refuse of the pure corn we sell.
And they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives. So `are' the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh.
The women of My people ye cast out from its delightful house, From its sucklings ye take away My honour to the age.
Are there yet `in' the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred scanty ephah? Do I reckon `it' pure with balances of wickedness? And with a bag of deceitful stones? Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue `is' deceitful in their mouth.
On the evil `are' both hands to do `it' well, The prince is asking -- also the judge -- for recompence, And the great -- he is speaking the mischief of his soul, And they wrap it up.
`I have brought it out -- an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts -- and it hath come in unto the house of the thief, and unto the house of him who hath sworn in My name to a falsehood, and it hath remained in the midst of his house, and hath consumed it, both its wood and its stones.'
`Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: True judgment judge ye, And kindness and mercy do one with another. And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart. And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing. And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. And it cometh to pass, as He called, And they have not hearkened, So do they call, and I do not hearken, Said Jehovah of Hosts.
And I have drawn near to you for judgment, And I have been a witness, Making haste against sorcerers, And against adulterers, And against swearers to a falsehood, And against oppressors of the hire of an hireling, Of a widow, and of a fatherless one, And those turning aside a sojourner, And who fear Me not, said Jehovah of Hosts.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 17
Commentary on Jeremiah 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Judah's sin is ineffaceably stamped upon the hearts of the people and on their altars. These four verses are closely connected with the preceding, and show why it is necessary that Judah be cast forth amidst the heathen, by reason of its being perfectly stepped in idolatry. Jeremiah 17:1. "The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with the point of a diamond graven on the table of their hearts and on the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:2 . As they remember their children, so do they their altars and their Astartes by the green tree upon the high hills. Jeremiah 17:3 . My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures give I for a prey, thy high places for sin in all thy borders. Jeremiah 17:4 . And thou shalt discontinue, and that of thine own self, from thine inheritance that I gave thee, and I cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, for ever it burneth."