They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God
36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, u‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’:
37 vBehold, I will gather them from all the countries wto which I drove them in xmy anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, yand I will make them dwell in safety. 38 zAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 aI will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, bfor their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 cI will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. dAnd I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 eI will rejoice in doing them good, fand I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
42 “For thus says the Lord: gJust as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 hFields shall be bought in this land iof which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; jit is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and kdeeds shall be signed and ksealed and kwitnessed, lin the land of Benjamin, lin the places about Jerusalem, land in the cities of Judah, lin the cities of the hill country, lin the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for mI will restore their fortunes, declares 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:
h“‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!’
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.”
Zedekiah to Die in Babylon
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when cNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army dand all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to eZedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: fBehold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 gYou shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. gYou shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! hThus says the Lord concerning you: h‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace. iAnd as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall jburn spices for you kand lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, lLachish and mAzekah, nfor these were the only ofortified cities of Judah that remained.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah phad made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem qto make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 rthat everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, sso that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves rthey had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when tI brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 u‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; ryou must set him free from your service.’ But vyour fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes qby proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and wyou made a covenant before me in the xhouse that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around yand profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, zwhom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me qby proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; abehold, I proclaim to you liberty bto the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. cI will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of wthe covenant that they made before me, I will make them like4 dthe calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, ethe eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies fand into the hand of those who seek their lives. gTheir dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And hZedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon iwhich has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, jI will command, declares the Lord, and will kbring them back to this city. kAnd they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. lI will make the cities of Judah a desolation mwithout inhabitant.”
