Jeremias 33

Healing for the city

¹The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still held in the courtyard of the guard: ²“The LORD says this, the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it and set it firm; the LORD is his name:^{a 3}Call out to me, and I will answer you. I will make known to you great things, things beyond your reach, which you have not known.^b

⁴For the LORD, the God of Israel, says this about the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been torn down to hold back the siege ramps and the sword:^{c 5}They come to fight against the Chaldeans, but only to fill these houses with the dead bodies of the people I have struck down in my anger and my rage; for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.^{d 6}But look, I will bring this city recovery and a cure. I will heal its people and show them peace and stability in abundance. ⁷I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Israel, and I will rebuild them as they were at the beginning.^{e 8}I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all their guilt, every way they have sinned against me and rebelled against me. ⁹This city will be for me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth. They will hear of all the good I do for its people, and they will be in awe and tremble because of all the good and all the peace I bring about for it.

¹⁰The LORD says this: Once more there will be heard in this place, which you call a ruin with neither people nor animals, in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that lie deserted, without people, without anyone living there, without animals, ¹¹the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bridegroom and bride, and the voices of those who say, ‘Give the LORD of Armies thanks, for the LORD is good; his loyal love lasts forever,’ as they bring offerings of thanks to the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at the beginning, says the LORD.

¹²The LORD of Armies says this: In this place that lies in ruins, without people or animals, and in all its towns, there will once again be pastures where shepherds rest their flocks. ¹³In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in Benjamin’s territory, in the places surrounding Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them, says the LORD.

The righteous Branch

¹⁴The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will carry out the good promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.^{f 15}In those days and at that time \q I will make a righteous Branch spring up for David, \q and he will do justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved, \q and Jerusalem will live in safety. \q And this is the name people will give her: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’

¹⁷For the LORD says this: David will always have a man of his line to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. ¹⁸Nor will the priests, the Levites, ever be without a man who serves in my presence, offering burnt offerings, burning grain offerings and making sacrifices for all time.”

The covenant with day and night

¹⁹The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁰“The LORD says this: If you could break my covenant with day and my covenant with night, and stop day and night from coming at their set times, ²¹then my covenant with my servant David could also be broken, and he would have no son to reign on his throne; and so could my covenant with the Levites, the priests who serve me. ²²As the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who serve me.”

²³The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁴“Have you not seen what these people are saying: ‘The LORD chose two families, and now he has rejected them’? So they look down on my people, as if they were no longer a nation in their eyes.^gh

²⁵The LORD says this: If I had not made my covenant with day and night, if I had not set in place the fixed laws of heaven and earth, ²⁶then I would also reject Jacob’s descendants and those of my servant David, and not take rulers from David’s line to govern the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Indeed, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.”