17:1 The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond point

on the horns of their altars.

2 Their children are always thinking about their altars

and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah,

set up beside the green trees on the high hills

3 and on the mountains and in the fields.

I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder.

I will give it away as the price for the sins you have committed throughout your land.

4 You will lose your hold on the land

which I gave to you as a permanent possession.

I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about.

For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out."

5 The LORD says,

"I will put a curse on people

who trust in mere human beings,

who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength,

and whose hearts have turned away from the LORD.

6 They will be like a shrub in the desert.

They will not experience good things even when they happen.

It will be as though they were growing in the desert,

in a salt land where no one can live.

7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,

who put their confidence in me.

8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream

whose roots spread out toward the water.

It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.

Its leaves are always green.

It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.

It does not stop bearing fruit.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® copyright © 1996, 2019, used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.