◄ Jeremiah 17:24 ►
If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it,
Study Bible
If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD,

God held before Judah a real call to covenant obedience even as judgment approached. To listen carefully meant receiving His word with reverence and ordering life according to it. Israel’s fundamental confession began with the command, “Hear, O Israel,” followed by wholehearted love for the LORD (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). The Lord sought not empty religious observance but a people who trusted Him enough to obey.

Psa 81:13 If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow…
Exo 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,…
Deu 28:1 Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God…

and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day,

Jerusalem’s gates were centers of trade, legal decisions, and public life. Merchants carrying goods through them on the Sabbath treated the holy day as an ordinary opportunity for profit. God’s command addressed conduct visible to the whole city, calling its leaders, workers, and traders alike to honor Him above economic advantage.

Neh 13:15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses…
Neh 13:19 When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates…
Neh 13:22 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves…

and keep the Sabbath day holy,

The Sabbath belonged to the LORD as a covenant sign between Him and Israel (Exodus 31:13). Its observance recalled both God’s rest after creation and His deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Genesis 2:2–3; Deuteronomy 5:15). By setting the day apart, Judah acknowledged that the Lord was Creator, Redeemer, and Provider. The Sabbath also anticipated the lasting rest God gives His people through Christ (Hebrews 4:9–10)..

Deu 5:12 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,…
Exo 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Ezk 20:20 Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign…

and do no work on it,

Resting from labor required faith that God could sustain His people without their constant striving. Judah’s refusal to cease from commerce revealed a deeper unwillingness to submit daily life to God’s rule. The command invited the nation to turn from self-reliance and to honor the Lord in practical obedience, finding its ultimate fulfillment in the rest Christ gives to those who come to Him (Matthew 11:28–30).

Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God,…
Deu 5:14 the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God,…
Lev 23:3 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver His messages to the people of Judah, often warning them of impending judgment due to their disobedience.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who speaks through Jeremiah, emphasizing His authority and the importance of obedience to His commands.

3. The City (Jerusalem)
The capital of Judah, representing the center of religious and political life, where the observance of the Sabbath was to be a public testimony of faithfulness to God.

4. The Sabbath
A day of rest instituted by God, meant to be a sign of the covenant between Him and His people, reminding them of His creation and their deliverance from Egypt.

5. The Gates of the City
Symbolic of the entry points to Jerusalem, where commerce and daily activities were to cease on the Sabbath as a sign of obedience and reverence to God.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Listening to God
The verse begins with a call to "listen carefully," underscoring the need for attentiveness to God's word and commands in our lives.

Sabbath as a Sign of Covenant Faithfulness
Observing the Sabbath was a tangible expression of Israel's commitment to God, reminding us of the importance of setting aside time for rest and worship.

Holiness in Daily Life
Keeping the Sabbath holy involved refraining from work, teaching us to prioritize spiritual over material pursuits and to trust in God's provision.

Obedience Brings Blessing
The promise of blessing for obedience is implicit, encouraging us to align our lives with God's will to experience His favor.

Community Witness
Observing the Sabbath was a public act, reminding us that our obedience to God serves as a testimony to others of His lordship in our lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the command to "listen carefully" to God in Jeremiah 17:24 apply to our daily lives today?

2. In what ways can we honor the principle of the Sabbath in our modern context, even if we do not observe it in the traditional sense?

3. How does the observance of the Sabbath in Jeremiah's time serve as a witness to the surrounding nations, and how can our obedience to God serve as a witness today?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure that we are setting aside time for rest and worship in our busy schedules?

5. How do the themes of obedience and blessing in Jeremiah 17:24 connect with other biblical teachings on the relationship between following God's commands and experiencing His favor?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 20:8-11
The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is part of the Ten Commandments, highlighting its foundational role in Israel's covenant relationship with God.

Nehemiah 13:15-22
Nehemiah's reforms included enforcing the observance of the Sabbath, showing the ongoing struggle and importance of this commandment in Israel's history.

Isaiah 58:13-14
Emphasizes the blessings associated with honoring the Sabbath, connecting obedience to spiritual and physical well-being.
Sermons
Sabbath SanctificationS. Conway Jeremiah 17:19-27
The Hallowing of the Sabbath DayD. Young Jeremiah 17:19-27
The Sabbath and its ObligationA.F. Muir Jeremiah 17:19-27
People
Benjamin, David, Jeremiah
Places
Jerusalem, Negeb, People's Gate, Shephelah
Topics
Affirmation, Attentively, Bring, Burden, Care, Careful, Certainly, Declares, Diligently, Doorways, Ear, Gates, Hallow, Hearken, Holy, Listen, Load, Obey, Pass, Rest, Sabbath, Sanctify, Says, Therein, Town, Weight
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 17:24

     5338   holiday

Library
Sin's Writing and Its Erasure
'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.'--JER. xvii. 1. 'Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.'-2 COR. iii. 3. 'Blotting out the handwriting that was against us.'---COL .ii. 14. I have put these verses together because they …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Soul Gazing on God
'A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.'--JER. xvii. 12. I must begin by a word or two of explanation as to the language of this passage. The word 'is' is a supplement, and most probably it ought to be omitted, and the verse treated as being, not a statement, but a series of exclamations. The next verse runs thus, 'O Lord! the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed'; and the most natural and forcible understanding of the words of my text is reached …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Two Lists of Names
'They that depart from Me shall be written in the earth'--JER. xvii. 13. 'Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'--LUKE x. 20. A name written on earth implies that the bearer of the name belongs to earth, and it also secondarily suggests that the inscription lasts but for a little while. Contrariwise, a name written in heaven implies that its bearer belongs to heaven, and that the inscription will abide. We find running throughout Scripture the metaphor of books in which men's names are …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Heath in the Desert and the Tree by the River
'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, a salt land and not inhabited...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.'--JER. xvii. 6, 8. The prophet here puts before us two highly finished pictures. In the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Nation's Duty in a War for Freedom.
(Preached March 28th, 1813.) TEXT: JEREMIAH xvii. 5-8, AND xviii. 7-10. MY devout hearers! Through an extraordinary occurrence we find the order of our discourses on the suffering Saviour interrupted, and our to-day's meeting devoted to a very different subject. How deeply have we all been moved by the events of the last weeks! We saw march forth from our gates the army of a people nominally allied to us, but our feeling was not that of parting with friends; with thankful joy did we feel at last …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

"The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Severinus in Germany.
As the Lord ever sends his angels when there is most need of help, so in the midst of the desolation and destruction which ensued on that irruption of the barbarians by which the Roman empire was broken in pieces after the death of Attila, the great desolator and exterminator, (A. D. 453,) He sent to the aid of the oppressed people of Germany, on the banks of the Danube, in their sore need, a man endowed with an extraordinary energy of love. His whole appearance has in it something enigmatical. As …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Trust of the Wicked, and the Righteous Compared. Jer 17:5-8
 …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence...
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, "Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man." [1838] And who is he, but man? We cannot therefore truly say that he setteth not his hope in man, who setteth it in himself. For this also, to "live after man," what is it but to "live after the flesh?" Whoso therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear, …
St. Augustine—On Continence

Epistle i. To the Roman Citizens.
To the Roman Citizens. Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his most beloved sons the Roman citizens. It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day as well as the Lord's day to be kept free from all work. For, because he pretends to die and rise …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"And if any Man Sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,",
1 John ii. 1.--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,", &c. There is here a sad supposition, but too certain, that any man may sin, yea, that all men will sin, even those who have most communion with God, and interest in the blood of Christ. Yet they are not altogether exempted from this fatal lot of mankind. It is incident even to them to sin, and too frequently incident, but yet we have a happy and sweet provision, for indemnity from the hazard of sin,--"we have an advocate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh,
Rom. viii. 3.--"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." For what purpose do we meet thus together? I would we knew it,--then it might be to some better purpose. In all other things we are rational, and do nothing of moment without some end and purpose. But, alas! in this matter of greatest moment, our going about divine ordinances, we have scarce any distinct or deliberate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appendix xvii. The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as Laid Down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud.
The terribly exaggerated views of the Rabbis, and their endless, burdensome rules about the Sabbath may best be learned from a brief analysis of the Mishnah, as further explained and enlarged in the Jerusalem Talmud. [6476] For this purpose a brief analysis of what is, confessedly, one of the most difficult tractates may here be given. The Mishnic tractate Sabbath stands at the head of twelve tractates which together from the second of the six sections into which the Mishnah is divided, and which …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. Exod 20: 8-11. This …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The First Part
Of the Apocalyptical Commentaries, according to the Rule of the Apocalyptical Key, on the First Prophecy which is contained in the Seals and Trumpets; with an Introduction concerning the Scene of the Apocalypse. As it is my design to investigate the meaning of the Apocalyptical visions, it is requisite for me to treat, in the first place, of that celestial theatre to which John was called, in order to behold them, exhibited as on a stage, and afterwards of the prophecies in succession, examined by …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Moral Depravity.
In discussing the subject of human depravity, I shall,-- I. Define the term depravity. The word is derived from the Latin de and pravus. Pravus means "crooked." De is intensive. Depravatus literally and primarily means "very crooked," not in the sense of original or constitutional crookedness, but in the sense of having become crooked. The term does not imply original mal-conformation, but lapsed, fallen, departed from right or straight. It always implies deterioration, or fall from a former state …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Inward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.
"I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy commandments."--Psalm cxix. 99, 100. In these words the Psalmist declares, that in consequence of having obeyed God's commandments he had obtained more wisdom and understanding than those who had first enlightened his ignorance, and were once more enlightened than he. As if he said, "When I was a child, I was instructed in religious knowledge by kind and pious friends, who …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which …
St. Augustine—On Patience

What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ.
2 Tim. i. 13.--"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here is the sum of religion. Here you have a compend of the doctrine of the Scriptures. All divine truths may be reduced to these two heads,--faith and love; what we ought to believe, and what we ought to do. This is all the Scriptures teach, and this is all we have to learn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of himself to us? And what have we to do, but what …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jewish views on Trade, Tradesmen, and Trades' Guilds
We read in the Mishnah (Kidd. iv. 14) as follows: "Rabbi Meir said: Let a man always teach his son a cleanly and a light trade; and let him pray to Him whose are wealth and riches; for there is no trade which has not both poverty and riches, and neither does poverty come from the trade nor yet riches, but everything according to one's deserving (merit). Rabbi Simeon, the son of Eleazer, said: Hast thou all thy life long seen a beast or a bird which has a trade? Still they are nourished, and that …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Division of Actual Grace
Actual grace may be divided according to: (1) the difference existing between the faculties of the human soul, and (2) in reference to the freedom of the will. Considered in its relation to the different faculties of the soul, actual grace is either of the intellect, or of the will, or of the sensitive faculties. With regard to the free consent of the will, it is either (1) prevenient, also called cooeperating, or (2) efficacious or merely sufficient. 1. THE ILLUMINATING GRACE OF THE INTELLECT.--Actual …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Links
Jeremiah 17:24 NIV
Jeremiah 17:24 NLT
Jeremiah 17:24 ESV
Jeremiah 17:24 NASB
Jeremiah 17:24 KJV

Jeremiah 17:24 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Jeremiah 17:23
Top of Page
Top of Page