Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^uPashhur the son of Malchiah and ^vZephaniah the priest, the son of ^wMaaseiah, saying, 2 ^x“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^yfor Nebuchadnezzar¹ king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^zall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^aBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ^bAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you ^cwith outstretched hand and strong arm, ^din anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, ^eI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^fHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

8 “And to this people you shall say: ^g‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^hI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die ⁱby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^jsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^kand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For ^lI have set my face against this city for harm and ^mnot for good, declares the Lord: ⁿit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

The Lord Promises Peace

1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ⁿshut up in the court of the guard: 2 “Thus says ^othe Lord who made the earth,¹ the Lord who formed it to establish it—^pthe Lord is his name: 3 ^qCall to me and I will answer you, ^rand will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against ^sthe siege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in ^tto fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them² with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down ^uin my anger and my wrath, ^vfor I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 ^wBehold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 ^xI will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, ^yand rebuild them as they were ^zat first. 8 ^aI will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, ^band I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 ^cAnd this city³ shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall ^dfear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^eof which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 ^fthe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring ^gthank offerings to the house of the Lord:

^xFor I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱIn this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be ^jhabitations of shepherds ^kresting their flocks. 13 ^lIn the cities of the hill country, ^lin the cities of the Shephelah, ^land in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, ^lthe places about Jerusalem, ^land in the cities of Judah, ^mflocks shall again pass under the hands ⁿof the one who counts them, says the Lord.

The Lord’s Eternal Covenant with David

14 ^o“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^pI will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^qBranch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, ^rand Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^s‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

17 “For thus says the Lord: ^tDavid shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 ^uand the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 ^v“Thus says the Lord: ^wIf you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^xso that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21 ^ythen also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. 22 As ^zthe host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^zthe sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord: ^aIf I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^bFor I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

The Earthly Holy Place

1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and ^man earthly place of holiness. 2 For ⁿa tent¹ was prepared, the first section, in which were ^othe lampstand and ^pthe table and ^qthe bread of the Presence.² It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind ^rthe second curtain was a second section³ called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden ^saltar of incense and ^tthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ua golden urn holding the manna, and ^vAaron’s staff that budded, and ^wthe tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were ^xthe cherubim of glory overshadowing ^ythe mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 These preparations having thus been made, ^zthe priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only ^athe high priest goes, and he but ^aonce a year, and not without taking blood, ^bwhich he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that ^cthe way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age).⁴ According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered ^dthat cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with ^efood and drink and ^fvarious washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^gof the good things that have come,⁵ then through ^hthe greater and more perfect tent (ⁱnot made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he ^jentered ^konce for all into the holy places, not by means of ^lthe blood of goats and calves but ^mby means of his own blood, ⁿthus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if ^othe blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^pthe ashes of a heifer, sanctify⁶ for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will ^qthe blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^roffered himself without blemish to God, ^spurify our⁷ conscience ^tfrom dead works ^uto serve the living God.

15 Therefore he is ^vthe mediator of a new covenant, so that ^wthose who are called may ^xreceive the promised eternal inheritance, ^ysince a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.⁸ 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For ^za will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^awithout blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^bthe blood of calves and goats, ^cwith water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, ^d“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^ethe tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^fwithout the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for ^gthe copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^hmade with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ⁱon our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^jthe high priest enters ^kthe holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^lhe has appeared ^monce for all ⁿat the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as ^oit is appointed for man to die once, and ^pafter that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once ^qto bear the sins of ^rmany, will appear ^sa second time, ^tnot to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^uwaiting for him.