Jeremiah 33

1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time:

While I was still being guarded in the courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave me this second message:

2 “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it, the LORD is His name:

“This is what I, the one who made the earth, who formed/shaped it and put it in its place, say [to the people of Jerusalem]: ‘My name is Yahweh.

3 Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Call out to me, and [then] I will tell you great and wonderful things that you have not known [before].’

4 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword:

This is what [I, ] Yahweh, the God whom [you] Israeli people [say you belong to], say: ‘[The men in this city] have torn down [some of] their houses, and [even parts of] the king’s palace, to get materials to strengthen the walls around the city, in order that [the soldiers of Babylonia will not be able to break through the walls after they climb up] the ramps that they have built against the walls, and [kill the inhabitants with] their swords.

5 The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill those places with the corpses of the men I will strike down in My anger and in My wrath. I have hidden My face from this city because of all its wickedness.

You are expecting to fight against the army from Babylonia, but [what will happen is that] the houses of this city will be filled with the corpses of the men of this city whom I will [allow to be killed] because I am extremely angry [DOU] with them. I have abandoned them because of all the wicked things that they have done.

6 Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.

However, [there will be a time when] I will cause the people in this city to be healthy and strong again. I will enable them to be prosperous and have peace.

7 I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.

I will bring the people of Judah and Israel back from the lands to which they were exiled. I will enable them to rebuild their towns.

8 And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.

I will get rid of their guilt for all the sins that they have committed against me, and I will forgive them for their sin of rebelling against me.

9 So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.

[When that happens], all the nations of the world will rejoice, and they will praise me and honor me. They will hear about all the good things that I have done for this city and, because of that, they will revere me, and they will tremble because I have caused [the people in this city] to have peace and to prosper.’

10 This is what the LORD says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted—inhabited by neither man nor beast—there will be heard again

And this is also what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘You people have said that this is a land where there are no [longer] any people or animals. But in the streets of Jerusalem that are now completely empty [DOU], and in the [other] towns in Judah,

11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.

[some day] people will again be happy and laugh. Brides and bridegrooms will [again] sing [joyfully]. And many other people will also sing joyfully as they bring their offerings to me to thank me [for what I have done for them]. [They will sing this song]: “[We] thank you, the Commander of the armies of angels, because you are good [to us]. You faithfully love [us] forever.” [They will sing that] because I will cause [the people of] land to be as prosperous as they were before.’

12 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: In this desolate place, without man or beast, and in all its cities, there will once more be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks.

This land is [now] desolate. There are no people or animals living here. But [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: ‘In this land there will again be pastures/fields where shepherds will lead their sheep.

13 In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.

Shepherds will again count their sheep as the sheep walk by, outside the towns in the hilly area, in the western foothills, in the southern desert area, in the land [where the descendants] of Benjamin live, around Jerusalem, and outside [all] the [other] towns in Judah.’ [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.

14 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the gracious promise that I have spoken to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Listen to this! [I], Yahweh, say that there will be a time when I will do for the people of Israel and Judah [all the good things that] I promised to do [for them].

15 In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

At that time [DOU] I will appoint a righteous man who will be a descendant [MET] of King David. Throughout the land, he will do what is just and right.

16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

At that time, [the people of] Judah will be rescued [from their enemies], and [the people of] Jerusalem will be safe. And people will say that the name of the city is ‘Yahweh [is the one who] vindicates/defends us’.

17 For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

And this is [also] what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘There will be descendants of King David ruling [MTY] Israel forever.

18 nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

And there will always be priests who are descendants of Levi who [stand] in front of me and offer sacrifices that will be completely burned [on the altar] and who will burn grain offerings and [other] sacrifices.’”

19 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

[Then] Yahweh gave me this message:

20 “This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time,

“This is what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘[You] certainly cannot annul my promise/agreement to cause nighttime to follow daytime each day.

21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.

Similarly, you cannot annul the promise/agreement [that I made] with King David, who served me [well], that there will always be descendants of his who will rule [Judah]. The same is true for my agreement with the descendants of Levi who are priests who do work for me.

22 As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

No one can count the stars in the sky, and no one can count the grains of sand at the seashore. Similarly, I will cause there to be a huge number of priests who are descendants of David and descendants of Levi who will work for me.’”

23 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

Yahweh gave another message to me. He said,

24 “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation.

“Have you noticed/heard that some people are saying, ‘Yahweh chose two groups, the people [of Judah] and the people [of Israel], and [later] abandoned them.’ They are despising my people and saying that Israel no longer deserves to be considered a nation.

25 This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,

But this is what I say: ‘I will not change my laws that control the day and the night, the sky and the earth.

26 then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”

Similarly, I will never abandon the descendants of David or the [other] descendants of Jacob, and I will always allow descendants of David to rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will bring my people back to their land, and I will act mercifully toward them.’”