The Lord Promises To Give the Land Back to His People
1-2 I was still being held prisoner in the courtyard of the palace guards when the Lord told me:
I am the Lord, and I created the whole world. 3 Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don't know and can't find out.
4-5 Many of the houses in Jerusalem and some of the buildings at the royal palace have been torn down to be used in repairing the walls to keep out the Babylonian attackers. Now there are empty spaces where the buildings once stood. But I am furious, and these spaces will be filled with the bodies of the people I kill. The people of Jerusalem will cry out to me for help, but they are evil, and I will ignore their prayers.
6 Then someday, I will heal this place and my people as well, and let them enjoy unending peace. 7 I will give this land to Israel and Judah once again, and I will make them as strong as they were before. 8 They sinned and rebelled against me, but I will forgive them and take away their guilt. 9 When that happens, all nations on earth will see the good things I have done for Jerusalem, and how I have given it complete peace. The nations will celebrate and praise and honor me, but they will also tremble with fear because of the powerful things I have done.
10 Jeremiah, you say that this land is a desert without people or animals, and for now, you are right. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are deserted, and people and animals are nowhere to be seen. But someday you will hear 11 happy voices and the sounds of parties and wedding celebrations. And when people come to my temple to offer sacrifices to thank me, you will hear them say:
“We praise you,
Lord All-Powerful!
You are good to us,
and your love never fails.”
The land will once again be productive. 12-13 Now it is empty, without people or animals. But when that time comes, shepherds will take care of their flocks in pastures near every town in the hill country, in the foothills to the west, in the Southern Desert, in the land of the Benjamin tribe, and around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord's Wonderful Promise
14 The Lord said:
I made a wonderful promise to Israel and Judah, and the days are coming when I will keep it.
15 I promise that the time will come
when I will appoint a king
from the family of David,
a king who will be honest
and rule with justice.
16 In those days,
Judah will be safe;
Jerusalem will have peace
and will be named,
“The Lord Gives Justice.”
17 The king of Israel will be one of David's descendants, 18 and there will always be priests from the Levi tribe serving at my altar and offering sacrifices to please me and to give thanks.
19 Then the Lord told me:
20 I, the Lord, have an agreement with day and night, so they always come at the right time. You can't break the agreement I made with them, 21 and you can't break the agreements I have made with David's family and with the priests from the Levi tribe who serve at my altar. A descendant of David will always rule as king of Israel, 22 and there will be more descendants of David and of the priests from the Levi tribe than stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach.
23 The Lord also said:
24 You've heard foreigners insult my people by saying, “The Lord chose Israel and Judah, but now he has rejected them, and they are no longer a nation.”
25 Jeremiah, I will never break my agreement with the day and the night or let the sky and the earth stop obeying my commands. 26 In the same way, I will never reject the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or break my promise that they will always have a descendant of David as their king. I will be kind to my people Israel, and they will be successful again.
Another Promise of Hope
1 While I was still in prison in the courtyard, the Lord's message came to me again. 2 The Lord, who made the earth, who formed it and set it in place, spoke to me. He whose name is the Lord said, 3 “Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things that you know nothing about. 4 I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say that the houses of Jerusalem and the royal palace of Judah will be torn down as a result of the siege and the attack. 5 Some will fight against the Babylonians, who will fill the houses with the corpses of those whom I am going to strike down in my anger and fury. I have turned away from this city because of the evil things that its people have done. 6 But I will heal this city and its people and restore them to health. I will show them abundant peace and security. 7 I will make Judah and Israel prosperous, and I will rebuild them as they were before. 8 I will purify them from the sins that they have committed against me, and I will forgive their sins and their rebellion. 9 Jerusalem will be a source of joy, honor, and pride to me; and every nation in the world will fear and tremble when they hear about the good things that I do for the people of Jerusalem and about the prosperity that I bring to the city.”
10 The Lord said, “People are saying that this place is like a desert, that it has no people or animals living in it. And they are right; the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are empty; no people or animals live there. But in these places you will hear again 11 the shouts of gladness and joy and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. You will hear people sing as they bring thank offerings to my Temple; they will say,
‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
because he is good
and his love is eternal.’
I will make this land as prosperous as it was before. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
12 The Lord Almighty said, “In this land that is like a desert and where no people or animals live, there will once again be pastures where shepherds can take their sheep. 13 In the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, shepherds will once again count their sheep. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
14 The Lord said, “The time is coming when I will fulfill the promise that I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 15 At that time I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will do what is right and just throughout the land. 16 The people of Judah and of Jerusalem will be rescued and will live in safety. The city will be called ‘The Lord Our Salvation.’ 17 I, the Lord, promise that there will always be a descendant of David to be king of Israel 18 and that there will always be priests from the tribe of Levi to serve me and to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrifices.”
19 The Lord said to me, 20 “I have made a covenant with the day and with the night, so that they always come at their proper times; and that covenant can never be broken. 21 In the same way I have made a covenant with my servant David that he would always have a descendant to be king, and I have made a covenant with the priests from the tribe of Levi that they would always serve me; and those covenants can never be broken. 22 I will increase the number of descendants of my servant David and the number of priests from the tribe of Levi, so that it will be as impossible to count them as it is to count the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore.”
23 The Lord said to me, 24 “Have you noticed how people are saying that I have rejected Israel and Judah, the two families that I chose? And so they look with contempt on my people and no longer consider them a nation. 25 But I, the Lord, have a covenant with day and night, and I have made the laws that control earth and sky. 26 And just as surely as I have done this, so I will maintain my covenant with Jacob's descendants and with my servant David. I will choose one of David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will be merciful to my people and make them prosperous again.”