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Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still ^(C1)confined in the courtyard of the guard, saying,

"This is what ^(C1)the LORD says, He who made ^(F1)the earth, the LORD who formed it to create it, He whose name is the ^(C2)LORD:

'^(C1)Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you ^(C2)great and ^(F1)mighty things, ^(C3)which you do not know.'

"For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says concerning the ^(C1)houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a defense against the ^(C2)assault ramps and the sword:

'While they are coming to ^(C1)fight the Chaldeans and to fill ^(F1)their houses with the bodies of people whom I have struck down in My anger and My wrath, and I have ^(C2)hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness:

'Behold, I am going to bring to it ^(C1)healing and a remedy, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an ^(C2)abundance of peace and truth.

'And I will ^(C1)restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and will ^(C2)rebuild them as they were at first.

'And I will ^(C1)cleanse them from all their wrongdoing by which they have sinned against Me, and I will forgive all their wrongdoings by which they have sinned against Me and revolted against Me.

'^(F1)It will be to Me a ^(C1)name of joy, praise, and glory before ^(C2)all the nations of the earth, which will hear of all the ^(C3)good that I do for them, and they will be ^(C4)frightened and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.'

"This is what the LORD says: 'Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, "It is a ^(C1)waste, without man and without animal," that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are ^(C2)deserted, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,

the voice of ^(C1)joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, "^(C2)Give thanks to the LORD of armies, For the LORD is good, For His mercy is everlasting," as they bring a ^(C3)thanksgiving offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,' says the LORD.

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"This is what the LORD of armies says: 'There will again be in this place which is waste, ^(C1)without man or animal, and in all its cities, a pasture for shepherds who rest their ^(C2)flocks.

'In the ^(C1)cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again ^(C2)pass under the hands of the one who counts them,' says the LORD.

'Behold, ^(C1)days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will ^(C2)fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

'In those days and at that time I will make a ^(C1)righteous Branch of David sprout; and He shall execute ^(C2)justice and righteousness on the earth.

'In those days ^(C1)Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which it will be called: the ^(C2)LORD is our righteousness.'

"For this is what the LORD says: '^(F1)David shall ^(C1)not lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

^(F1)and the ^(C1)Levitical priests shall not lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to ^(C2)prepare sacrifices ^(F2)continually.'"

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

"This is what the LORD says: 'If you can ^(C1)break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not occur at their proper time,

then ^(C1)My covenant with David My servant may also be broken, so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.

'As the ^(C1)heavenly ^(F1)lights cannot be counted, and the ^(C2)sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will ^(C3)multiply the ^(F2)descendants of My servant David and the ^(C4)Levites who serve Me.'"

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

"Have you not observed what these people have asserted, saying, 'The ^(C1)two families which the LORD chose, He has ^(C2)rejected them'? So they ^(C3)despise My people as no longer being a nation ^(F1)in their sight.

"This is what the LORD says: 'If My ^(C1)covenant for day and night does not continue, and I have ^(C2)not established the ^(F1)fixed patterns of heaven and earth,

then I would ^(C1)reject the ^(F1)descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so as not to take from his ^(F1)descendants ^(C2)rulers over the ^(F1)descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will ^(C3)restore their fortunes and have ^(C4)mercy on them.'"

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when ^(C1)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with ^(C2)all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his ^(F1)control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying,

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: '^(C1)Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Behold, ^(C2)I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and ^(C3)he will burn it with fire.

'And as for you, ^(C1)you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will ^(C2)see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you ^(F1)face to face, and you will go to Babylon.'"'

"Yet hear the word of the LORD, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the LORD says concerning you: 'You will not die by the sword.

'You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will ^(C1)burn spices for you; and ^(C2)they will mourn for you, crying, "Oh, my lord!"' For I have spoken the word," declares the LORD.

Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke ^(C1)all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, ^(C1)Lachish and ^(C2)Azekah, for they alone remained as ^(C3)fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had ^(C1)made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to ^(C2)proclaim ^(F1)release to them:

that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a ^(C1)Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that ^(C2)no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage.

And all the ^(C1)officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.

But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'I ^(C1)made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I ^(C2)brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

"^(C1)At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who ^(F1)has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you." But your forefathers ^(C2)did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me.

'Although recently you had turned and ^(C1)done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming ^(F1)release to his neighbor, and you had ^(C2)made a covenant before Me ^(C3)in the house which is called by My name.

'Yet you ^(C1)turned and ^(C2)profaned My name, and each person ^(F1)took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.'

"Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming ^(F1)release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am ^(C1)proclaiming a ^(F1)release to you,' declares the LORD, 'to the ^(C2)sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a ^(C3)terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

'I will give the people who have ^(C1)violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ^(C2)cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—

the ^(C1)officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who ^(C1)seek their lives. And their ^(C2)dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth.

'^(C1)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has ^(C2)withdrawn from you.

'Behold, I am going to give a command,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and ^(C1)take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ^(C2)desolation ^(C3)without inhabitant.'"