1Jeremiah was still being held as a prisoner. He was kept in the courtyard of the guard. Then another message from the LORD came to him. The LORD said,2‘I made the earth. I formed it. And I set it in place. The LORD is my name.3Call out to me. I will answer you. I will tell you great things you do not know. And unless I do, you wouldn’t be able to find out about them.’4The LORD is the God of Israel. He speaks about the houses in Jerusalem. He talks about the royal palaces of Judah. The people had torn down many of them. They had used their stones to strengthen the city walls against attack.5That was during their fight with the armies of Babylon. The LORD says, ‘The houses will be filled with dead bodies. They will be the bodies of the people I will kill. I will kill them when I am very angry with them. I will hide my face from this city. That’s because its people have committed so many sins.6‘But now I will bring health and healing to Jerusalem. I will heal my people. I will let them enjoy great peace and security.7I will bring Judah and Israel back from the places where they have been taken. I will build up the nation again. It will be just as it was before.8I will wash from its people all the sins they have committed against me. And I will forgive all the sins they committed when they turned away from me.9Then this city will bring me fame, joy, praise and honour. All the nations on earth will hear about the good things I do for this city. They will see the great success and peace I give it. Then they will be filled with wonder. And they will tremble with fear.’10The LORD says, ‘You say about this place, “It’s a dry and empty desert. It doesn’t have any people or animals in it.” The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are now deserted. So they do not have any people or animals living in them. But happy sounds will be heard there once more.11They will be the sounds of joy and gladness. The voices of brides and grooms will fill the streets. And the voices of those who bring thank-offerings to my house will be heard there. They will say, ‘ “Give thanks to the LORD who rules over all, because he is good. His faithful love continues for ever.” That’s because I will bless this land with great success again. It will be as it was before,’ says the LORD.12The LORD who rules over all says, ‘This place is a desert. It does not have any people or animals in it. But there will again be grasslands near all its towns. Shepherds will rest their flocks there.13Flocks will again pass under the hands of shepherds as they count their sheep,’ says the LORD. ‘That will be done in the towns of the central hill country. It will be done in the western hills and the Negev Desert. It will be done in the territory of Benjamin. And it will be done in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah.14‘The days are coming,’ announces the LORD. ‘At that time I will fulfil my good promise to my people. I made it to the people of Israel and Judah.15‘Here is what I will do in those days and at that time. I will make a godly Branch grow from David’s royal line. He will do what is fair and right in the land.16In those days Judah will be saved. Jerusalem will live in safety. And it will be called The LORD Who Makes Us Right With Himself.’17The LORD says, ‘David will always have a son to sit on the throne of Israel.18The priests, who are Levites, will always have a man to serve me. He will sacrifice burnt offerings. He will burn grain offerings. And he will offer sacrifices.’19A message from the LORD came to Jeremiah.20The LORD said, ‘Could you ever break my covenant with the day? Could you ever break my covenant with the night? Could you ever stop day and night from coming at their appointed times?21Only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then could my covenant with the Levites who serve me as priests be broken. Only then would David no longer have someone from his family line to rule on his throne.22Here is what I will do for my servant David. And here is what I will do for the Levites who serve me. I will make their children after them as many as the stars in the sky. And I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. It will be impossible to count them.’23A message from the LORD came to Jeremiah. The LORD said,24‘Haven’t you noticed what these people are saying? They say, “The LORD once chose the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. But now he has turned his back on them.” So they hate my people. They do not think of them as a nation anymore.25I say, “What if I had not made my covenant with day and night? What if I had not established the laws of heaven and earth?26Only then would I turn my back on the children of Jacob and my servant David. Only then would I not choose one of David’s sons to rule over the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will bless my people with great success again. I will love them with tender love.” ’
Jeremiah 33
English Standard Version
The Lord Promises Peace
1The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: (Jer 32:2)2“Thus says the Lord who made the earth,[1] the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: (Ex 6:3; Ps 83:18; Isa 37:26; Jer 16:21; Am 4:13)3Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Ps 91:15; Isa 48:6; Jer 29:12)4For 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 the siege mounds and against the sword: (Jer 32:24)5They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them[2] with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. (De 31:17; Jer 32:5; Eze 22:20)6Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. (Jer 30:17)7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. (Isa 1:26; Jer 24:6; Jer 30:3)8I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. (Ps 51:2; Ps 51:7; Jer 31:34; Eze 36:25; Heb 9:13)9And this city[3] 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 fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it. (Ps 130:4; Isa 60:5; Jer 13:11)10“Thus says the Lord: In this place of 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 (Jer 32:43)11the 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 thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord. (Le 7:12; 1Ch 16:34; Ps 106:1; Ps 107:1; Ps 107:22; Isa 12:4; Jer 7:34; Jer 30:19; Jer 33:7)12“Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. (So 1:7; Isa 65:10; Jer 31:24; Jer 50:19; Eze 34:14; Eze 36:11)13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord. (Le 27:32; Jer 17:26; Joh 10:3)
The Lord’s Eternal Covenant with David
14“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. (Jer 23:5; Jer 29:10)15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (Isa 4:2; Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5)16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jer 23:6; Jer 32:37)17“For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, (2Sa 7:16; 1Ki 2:4; Ps 89:3)18and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” (Isa 66:21)19The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:20“Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, (Ge 8:22; Ps 72:5; Isa 54:9; Jer 31:36; Jer 33:25)21then 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. (Ps 89:34)22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the 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.” (Ge 22:17)23The 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.25Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, (Ps 74:16; Ps 104:19)26then 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. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.” (Jer 30:3; Jer 33:7; Jer 33:11)