1And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying:
2Thus says Yahweh who made it, Yahweh who formed it to establish it — Yahweh is his name:
3Call out to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and inaccessible things that you do not know.
4For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah that are torn down for use against the siege ramps and against the sword:
5They come to fight the Chaldeans, but only to fill them with the corpses of the men whom I struck down in my anger and in my wrath, and because I hid my face from this city on account of all their evil.
6Behold, I am going to bring to it healing and a cure, and I will heal them, and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
7And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and I will rebuild them as at the first.
8And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they sinned against me, and I will forgive all their iniquities by which they sinned against me and by which they rebelled against me.
9And it will become for me a name of joy, a praise and a glory, before all the nations of the earth who will hear of all the good that I am doing for them; and they will fear and tremble over all the good and over all the peace that I am doing for it.
10Thus says Yahweh: Yet again there will be heard in this place — of which you say, ‘It is a ruin, without man and without beast’ — in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,
11the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those saying, ‘Give thanks to Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his loyal love endures forever,’ as they bring a thanksgiving offering to the house of Yahweh. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at the first, says Yahweh.
12Thus says Yahweh of hosts: In this place that is a ruin, without man and even without beast, and in all its cities, there will yet be a pasture for shepherds resting their flocks.
13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will yet pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says Yahweh.
14Behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will fulfill the good word that I spoke concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.
15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to sprout for David, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what it will be called: Yahweh Is Our Righteousness.
17For thus says Yahweh: There will never be cut off for David a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel,
18nor will there be cut off for the Levitical priests a man before me offering up burnt offerings, burning grain offerings, and making sacrifice, all the days.
19And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying:
20Thus says Yahweh: If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night would not come at their appointed time,
21then also my covenant with David my servant could be broken, so that he would not have a son reigning on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.
22As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.
23And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying:
24Have you not seen what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families that Yahweh chose he has rejected’? So they despise my people, so that they are no longer a nation before them.
25Thus says Yahweh: If I have not appointed my covenant of day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth,
26then I would also reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant, so as not to take from his offspring rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.
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