Study Desk

While he was still confined in the guard's courtyard,^(a) the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time:

"The Lord who made the earth,^[a] the Lord who forms it to establish it, Yahweh is His name,^(b) says this:

Call to Me and I will answer you^(c) and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.^(d)

For this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and the palaces of Judah's kings, the ones torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword:^(e)

The people coming to fight the Chaldeans will fill the houses with the corpses of their own men that I strike down in My wrath and rage. I have hidden My face^(f) from this city because of all their evil.

Yet I will certainly bring health^(g) and healing to it and will indeed heal them. I will let them experience the abundance^[b] of peace and truth.^(h)

I will restore the fortunes^[c] of Judah and of Israel and will rebuild them as in former times.⁽ⁱ⁾

I will purify them from all the wrongs they have committed against Me,^(j) and I will forgive all the wrongs they have committed against Me, rebelling against Me.

This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory^(k) before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I will do for them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace^(l) I will bring about for them.

"This is what the Lord says: In this place, which you say is a ruin,^(m) without man or beast—that is, in Judah's cities and Jerusalem's streets that are a desolation without man, without inhabitant, and without beast—there will be heard again

a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride,⁽ⁿ⁾ and the voice of those saying, Praise the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good; His faithful love endures forever as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the Lord . For I will restore the fortunes^[d] of the land as in former times, says the Lord .

"This is what the Lord of Hosts says: In this desolate place—without man or beast—and in all its cities there will once more be a grazing land where shepherds may rest flocks.^(o)

The flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them^(p) in the cities of the hill country,^(q) the cities of the Judean foothills, the cities of the Negev, the land of Benjamin—the cities surrounding Jerusalem and Judah's cities, says the Lord .

"Look, the days are coming"— this is the Lord 's declaration— "when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.^(r)

In those days and at that time I will cause a Righteous Branch^(s) to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely,^(t) and this is what she will be named: Yahweh Our Righteousness.

"For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.^(u)

The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices."^(v)

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:

"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,^(w)

then also My covenant with My servant David^(x) may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers.^(y)

The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured.^(z) So, too, I will make the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister to Me innumerable."

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:

"Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say, ‘The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen.'^(aa) My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them.

This is what the Lord says: If I do not keep My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth,^(ab)

then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David—not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes^[e] and have compassion on them."^(ac)

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur^(a) son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah^(b) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking,

"Ask the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzar^[a](c) king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all His past wonderful works so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us."

But Jeremiah answered, "This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:

‘This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands,^(d) those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans^[b] who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.^(e)

I will fight against you^(f) with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm,^(g) with anger, rage, and great wrath.

I will strike the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a great plague.

Afterward'"—this is the Lord 's declaration—"‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,^(h) to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won't spare them or show pity or compassion.'⁽ⁱ⁾

"But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.^(j)

Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.^(k)

For I have turned^[c] against this city to bring disaster^(l) and not good'"—this is the Lord 's declaration. "‘It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it down.'^(m)

"And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of the Lord !

House of David, this is what the Lord says: Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor,⁽ⁿ⁾ or My anger will flare up like fire and burn unquenchably because of their evil deeds.

Beware! I am against you,^(o) you who sit above the valley, you atop the rocky plateau— this is the Lord 's declaration— you who say, "Who can come down against us?^(p) Who can enter our hiding places?"

I will punish you according to what you have done^(q)— this is the Lord 's declaration. I will kindle a fire in its forest^(r) that will consume everything around it.'"^(s)