1 W hile Jeremiah was still shut up in the open space of the prison, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time, saying,

Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

2 “ This is what the Lord says Who made the earth. The Lord made it to last. The Lord is His name.

Thus saith Jehovah that doeth it, Jehovah that formeth it to establish it; Jehovah is his name:

3 ‘ Call to Me, and I will answer you. And I will show you great and wonderful things which you do not know.’

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and will show thee great things, and difficult, which thou knowest not.

4 F or this is what the Lord God of Israel says about the houses of this city and about the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a strong wall to help in the battle against the Babylonians.

For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defence against the mounds and against the sword;

5 S ome will come to fight with the Babylonians, and they will fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have killed in My anger. I will hide My face from this city because of all their sin.

while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city:

6 S ee, I will make it well again, and I will heal them. I will let them have much peace and truth.

Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal unto them abundance of peace and truth.

7 I will return the land to Judah and to Israel, and I will help them to become as they were before.

And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8 I will make them clean from all the sins they have done against Me. I will forgive all their sins against Me.

And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

9 T his city will make My name known. It will be to Me joy, praise and shining-greatness before all the nations of the earth that hear of all the good that I do for them. And they will fear and shake because of all the good and all the peace that I give it.’

And this city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure unto it.

10 “ This is what the Lord says: ‘You say of this place, “It is a waste, without man or animal.” Yet in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are laid waste, with no man or animal living in them, there will again be heard

Thus saith Jehovah: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, whereof ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,

11 t he voice of joy and the voice of happiness. In this place will be heard the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of All, for the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.” And here will be heard the voice of those who bring a gift of thanks into the house of the Lord. For I will bring them back to the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.

the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give thanks to Jehovah of hosts, for Jehovah is good, for his lovingkindness endureth for ever; and of them that bring sacrifices of thanksgiving into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, saith Jehovah.

12 “ The Lord of All says, ‘This place is now a waste, without man or animal. Yet there will again be shepherds living in this place and in all its cities who can care for their sheep.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 I n the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the valley, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the land around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.

In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him that numbereth them, saith Jehovah.

14 ‘ See, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will do what I promised to the people of Israel and the people of Judah.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.

15 I n those days and at that time I will cause a right and good Branch of David to rise up. And He will do what is fair and right and good on the earth.

In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

16 I n those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will be safe. And this is the name it will be called: The Lord makes us right and good.’

In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby she shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness.

17 F or the Lord says, ‘David will never be without a man to sit on the throne of the people of Israel.

For thus saith Jehovah: David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

18 A nd the Levite religious leaders will never be without a man before Me to give burnt gifts, to burn grain gifts, and to make gifts ready on the altar all the time.’”

neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt-offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

19 T he Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying,

20 “ This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break My agreement with the day and night, so that day and night will not come at their set time,

Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;

21 t hen My agreement may also be broken with David My servant, that he will not have a son to rule on his throne. And then My agreement may be broken with My servants, the Levite religious leaders.

then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

22 T he stars of heaven cannot be numbered, and the sand of the sea cannot be weighed. In the same way I will make the children of David My servant many, as well as the Levites who serve Me.’”

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

23 T he Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 “ Have you not heard what these people are saying? They say, ‘The Lord has turned away from the two families He had chosen.’ So they hate My people. They are no longer a nation in their eyes.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah did choose, he hath cast them off? thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

25 T his is what the Lord says: ‘If I do not keep My agreement with day and night and the laws of heaven and earth,

Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night stand not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

26 t hen I will turn away from the children of Jacob and David My servant. Then I will not choose one of his children to rule over the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will bring them back to their land and will have loving-pity on them.’”

then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.