[1] Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he
was still shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, saying, [2] These are
the words of the Lord, who is doing it, the Lord who is forming it, to make
it certain; the Lord is his name; [3] Let your cry come to me, and I will
give you an answer, and let you see great things and secret things of which
you had no knowledge. [4] For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has
said about the houses of this town and the houses of the kings of Judah,
which have been broken down to make earthworks and ...; [5] ... and to make
them full of the dead bodies of men whom I have put to death in my wrath
and in my passion, and because of whose evil-doing I have kept my face
covered from this town. [6] See, I will make it healthy and well again, I
will even make them well; I will let them see peace and good faith in full
measure. [7] And I will let the fate of Judah and of Israel be changed,
building them up as at first. [8] And I will make them clean from all their
sin, with which they have been sinning against me; I will have forgiveness
for all their sins, with which they have been sinning against me, and with
which they have done evil against me. [9] And this town will be to me for a
name of joy, for a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth,
who, hearing of all the good which I am doing for them, will be shaking
with fear because of all the good and the peace which I am doing for it.
[10] This is what the Lord has said: There will again be sounding in this
place, of which you say, It is a waste, without man and without beast; even
in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem which are waste and
unpeopled, without man and without beast, [11] Happy sounds, the voice of
joy, the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride, the
voices of those who say, Give praise to the Lord of armies, for the Lord is
good, for his mercy is unchanging for ever: the voices of those who go with
praise into the house of the Lord. For I will let the land come back to its
first condition, says the Lord. [12] This is what the Lord of armies has
said: Again there will be in this place, which is a waste, without man and
without beast, and in all its towns, a resting-place where the keepers of
sheep will make their flocks take rest. [13] In the towns of the
hill-country, in the towns of the lowland, and in the towns of the South
and in the land of Benjamin and in the country round Jerusalem and in the
towns of Judah, the flocks will again go under the hand of him who is
numbering them, says the Lord. [14] See, the days are coming, says the
Lord, when I will give effect to the good word which I have said about the
people of Israel and the people of Judah. [15] In those days and at that
time, I will let a Branch of righteousness come up for David; and he will
be a judge in righteousness in the land. [16] In those days, Judah will
have salvation and Jerusalem will be safe: and this is the name which will
be given to her: The Lord is our righteousness. [17] For the Lord has said,
David will never be without a man to take his place on the seat of the
kingdom of Israel; [18] And the priests and the Levites will never be
without a man to come before me, offering burned offerings and perfumes and
meal offerings and offerings of beasts at all times. [19] And the word of
the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, [20] The Lord has said: If it is
possible for my agreement of the day and the night to be broken, so that
day and night no longer come at their fixed times, [21] Then my agreement
with my servant David may be broken, so that he no longer has a son to take
his place on the seat of the kingdom; and my agreement with the Levites,
the priests, my servants. [22] As it is not possible for the army of heaven
to be numbered, or the sand of the sea measured, so will I make the seed of
my servant David, and the Levites my servants. [23] And the word of the
Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, [24] Have you taken note of what these
people have said, The two families, which the Lord took for himself, he has
given up? This they say, looking down on my people as being, in their eyes,
no longer a nation. [25] The Lord has said, If I have not made day and
night, and if the limits of heaven and earth have not been fixed by me,
[26] Then I will give up caring for 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 let their fate be changed and will
have mercy on them.
