1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: |
2 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. |
3 The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the LORD." |
4 These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: |
5 "This is what the LORD says: "'Cries of fear are heard--terror, not peace. |
6 Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? |
7 How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. |
8 "' In that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. |
9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. |
10 "'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. |
11 I am with you and will save you,' declares the LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.' |
12 "This is what the LORD says: "'Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. |
13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. |
14 All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. |
15 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you. |
16 "'But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. |
17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.' |
18 "This is what the LORD says: "'I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place. |
19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained. |
20 Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them. |
21 Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?' declares the LORD. |
22 "'So you will be my people, and I will be your God.'" |
23 See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. |
24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this. |