< Jeremiah 33 >

1 Moreover the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
IN THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF KING JOAKIM SON OF JOSIAS THERE CAME THIS WORD FROM THE LORD.
2 Thus says Jehovah who does it, Jehovah who forms it to establish it; Jehovah is his name:
Thus said the Lord; Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and you shall declare to all the Jews, and to all that come to worship in the house of the Lord, all the words which I commanded you to speak to them; abate not one word.
3 Call to me, and I will answer thee, and will show thee great things, and difficult, which thou know not.
Peradventure they will hear, and turn every one from his evil way: then I will cease from the evils which I purpose to do to them, because of their evil practices.
4 For thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to defend against the mounds and against the sword,
And you shall say, Thus said the Lord; If you will not listen to me, to walk in my statutes which I set before you,
5 while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city:
to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you early in the morning; yes, I sent them, but you listened not to me;
6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them. And I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
then will I make this house as Selo, and I will make [this] city a curse to all the nations of all the earth.
7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first.
And the priests, and the false prophets, and all the people heard Jeremias speaking these words in the house of the Lord.
8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. And I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.
And it came to pass, when Jeremias had ceased speaking all that the Lord had ordered him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the false prophets and all the people took him, saying,
9 And this city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.
You shall surely die, because you have prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be as Selo, and this city shall be made quite destitute of inhabitants. And all the people assembled against Jeremias in the house of the Lord.
10 Thus says Jehovah: Yet again there shall be heard in this place-of which ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast-
And the princes of Juda heard this word, and they went up out of the house of the king to the house of the Lord, and sat in the entrance of the new gate.
11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Jehovah of hosts, for Jehovah is good, for his loving kindness is forever, and of those who bring thanksgiving into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says Jehovah.
Then the priests and the false prophets said to the princes and to all the people, The judgement of death [is due] to this man; because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.
12 Thus says Jehovah of hosts: Yet again there shall be in this place, which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
Then Jeremias spoke to the princes, and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city, all the words which you have heard.
13 In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who numbers them, says Jehovah.
And now amend your ways and your works, and listen to the voice of the Lord; and the Lord shall cease from the evils which he has pronounced against you.
14 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.
And behold, I am in your hands; do to me as is expedient, and as it is best for you.
15 In those days, and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
But know for a certainty, that if you kill me, you bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon them that dwell in it; for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak in your ears all these words.
16 In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby she shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness.
Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the false prophets; Judgement of death is not [due] to this man; for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.
17 For thus says Jehovah: David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel,
And there rose up men of the elders of the land, and said to all the assembly of the people,
18 neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
Michaeas the Morathite lived in the days of Ezekias king of Juda, and said to all the people of Juda, Thus says the Lord; Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a desolation, and the mountain of the house shall be a thicket of trees.
19 And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,
Did Ezekias and all Juda in any way kill him? Was it not that they feared the Lord, and they made supplication before the Lord, and the Lord ceased from the evils which he [had] pronounced against them? whereas we have wrought great evil against our own souls.
20 Thus says Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season,
And there was [another] man prophesying in the name of the Lord, Urias the son of Samaeas of Cariathiarim; and he prophesied concerning this land according to all the words of Jeremias.
21 then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
And king Joakim and all the princes heard all his words, and sought to kill him; and Urias heard [it] and went into Egypt.
22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister to me.
And the king sent men into Egypt;
23 And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,
and they brought him thence, and brought him into the king; and he struck him with the sword, and cast him into the sepulchre of the children of his people.
24 Consider thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah chose, he has cast them off? Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
Nevertheless the hand of Achicam son of Saphan was with Jeremias, to prevent his being delivered into the hands of the people, or being killed.
25 Thus says Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night stand not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,
26 then I will also cast away 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 cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.

< Jeremiah 33 >