Jeremiah 33

¹ Jeremiah was still confined to the Court of the Guard when the word of Yahweh was addressed to him a second time,

² ‘Yahweh, who made the earth, who formed it and set it firm – Yahweh is his name – says this,

³ Call to me and I will answer you; I will tell you great mysteries of which you know nothing.

⁴ For this is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the royal palaces of Judah which are to be destroyed. Against the earthworks and the palisades

⁵ they will join battle with the Chaldaeans, only to fill the city with the corpses of those I strike down in my anger and my wrath, of those from whom I turned my face because of all their wickedness.

⁶ ‘But look, I will hasten their recovery and their cure; I will cure them and let them know peace and security in full measure.

⁷ I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, and build them again as they were before.

⁸ I will cleanse them of every sin they have committed against me; the sins by which they offended me and apostatised from me, all these I will forgive.

⁹ And Jerusalem shall be my theme of joy, my honour and my boast, before all the nations of the earth: these, when they hear of all the prosperity that I shall grant, will be seized with fear and trembling at all the prosperity and the peace that I provide for it.

¹⁰ ‘Yahweh says this: In this place of which you say, “It is a waste without man or beast”, in the towns of Judah and in the ruined streets of Jerusalem where there is neither man nor beast, once more will be heard

¹¹ shouts of rejoicing and mirth, the voices of bridegroom and bride, and the singing of those who bring thanksgiving sacrifices to the Temple of Yahweh, “Give thanks to Yahweh Sabaoth, for Yahweh is good, for his love is everlasting”. For I will restore the fortunes of this land as they were before. Yahweh declares it!

¹² ‘Yahweh Sabaoth says this: In this place, this waste without man or beast, and in all its towns, once again there will be pastures for the shepherds to rest their flocks.

¹³ In all the towns of the highlands, of the Lowlands and the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, in the districts round Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, once again the flocks shall pass under the hand of him who counts them. Yahweh declares it!

¹⁴ ‘See, the days are coming – it is Yahweh who speaks – when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:

¹⁵ ‘In those days and at that time, I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David, who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land.

¹⁶ In those days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell in confidence. And this is the name the city will be called: Yahweh-our-integrity.

¹⁷ For Yahweh says this: David shall never lack a male descendant to sit on the throne of the House of Israel.

¹⁸ And the levitical priests shall never lack a male descendant to stand in my presence and offer holocaust, to burn the oblation and offer sacrifice every day.’

¹⁹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jeremiah,

²⁰ ‘Yahweh says this: If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night do not come at their due time,

²¹ then my covenant with David my servant might also be broken and he would have no son to reign on his throne, and so might my covenant with the levitical priests, who are my ministers.

²² As the array of heaven is past counting, the sand on the seashore beyond all reckoning, so will I increase the heirs of David my servant and the Levites, who, with these heirs, minister to me.’

²³ The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jeremiah,

²⁴ ‘Have you not noticed what these people say, “The two families which Yahweh chose he has now rejected”? So they despise my people, whom they no longer think of as a nation.

²⁵ Yahweh says this: if I have not created day and night and have not laid down laws for the heavens and the earth,

²⁶ why, then I reject the descendants of Jacob and of David my servant and cease to choose rulers from his descendants for the heirs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! For I mean to restore their fortunes and take pity on them.’