Jeremiah 17:1

The sin of Judah is written— This chapter is connected with the last thus: "I am now about to make my vengeance manifest upon Judah: their crimes are risen to the greatest height; they even glory in them. They have engraved them as an inscription upon their heart, upon the horns of their altars; as they engrave memorable actions, and the great exploits of heroes, upon stone and brass: so far from forgetting their impiety, they have erected monuments thereof in all places of their country." The prophet seems to allude to a custom of the heathens, who used to suspend certain amulets upon their hearts, on which were engraven the names or symbols of their deities. In like manner the names of these idols were engraved on the horns of the altars: the prophet's meaning is, that the fondness which the Jews had for idolatry was grown so inveterate, that it was scarcely possible to eradicate it, notwithstanding the calamities to which it would expose them. See Acts 17:23 and Calmet.