Jeremiah 33

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,

A second message came from the Lord to Jeremiah while he was still being held in the guard's courtyard of the guard.

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;

This is what the Lord says, the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who shaped it and set it in place, 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.

Call out to me, and I will answer you, explaining to you amazing, hidden things about which you don't have any idea.

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 ...;

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about Jerusalem's houses and the palaces of the kings of Judah that were demolished for materials to be used to defend against the siege ramps and the enemy attacks.

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.

They come to fight the Babylonians but will only fill those houses with the dead bodies of those I'm going to kill in my furious anger. I have given up on this city because of all its wickedness.

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.

But even so, in the future I will restore and repair it, and I will heal its people and give them lasting peace and safety.

7 And I will let the fate of Judah and of Israel be changed, building them up as at first.

I will bring Judah and Israel back from exile and will make them as strong as before.

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.

I will wash away all their sins that they committed against me, and I will forgive all their guilt from when they sinned in rebelling 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.

Then this city will bring me a glorious reputation, celebrated and praised by all the nations of the earth who get to hear of all the good things I do for it. They will tremble, amazed at how much good I have done for it, how I have made it so prosperous.

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,

This is what the Lord says: You call this place “a wasteland where there's no people or animals.” Well, here in the towns of Judah and in the empty streets of Jerusalem where no people or animals live, one day

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.

the sounds of joy and celebration will be heard there again, the happy voices of bride and bridegroom, and the shouts of praise of those bringing thank offerings to the Lord's Temple, saying: “Thank the Lord Almighty! For the Lord is good; his trustworthy love lasts endures forever.” For I will bring the land back from its “captivity” too, 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.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: In this wasteland where there's no people or animals, and in all its towns, once again there'll be pastures where shepherds can take their flocks.

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.

In all the towns, whether in the hill country, or the foothills, or the Negev, or the land of Benjamin or the towns around Jerusalem, or throughout the cities of Judah, flocks will once again be counted by their shepherds, 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.

Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will keep my promise to do good to the people of Israel and 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.

At that time, right there and then, I will give you a good king from the line of David. He will do what is just and right throughout the country.

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.

This is when Judah will be saved, and the people of Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Who Makes Us Right.

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;

This is what the Lord says: David will always have a descendant who will be king 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.

and the Levitical priests will always have a descendant to present burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrifices to me.

19 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:

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,

This is what the Lord says: If you were able to break my agreement with the day and with the night, so that they wouldn't come at the right time,

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.

only then would my agreement be broken with David my servant and with the Levites who serve as my priests, so that David would not have a descendant to rule on his throne.

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.

In the same way that the stars of heaven can't be counted, and the sand on the seashore can't be measured, that's how many times I will multiply the number of my servant David's descendants and the Levites who serve me.

23 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

Another message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:

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.

Have you heard what people are saying: “The Lord chose two families, but now he's rejected them”? So they look down on my people and don't consider them worthy of being called 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,

This is what the Lord says: Just as I can't break my agreement with the day and the night and the laws that regulate heaven and earth,

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.

so I can't reject the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David, and I can't fail to make his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will bring them back from exile and I will be kind to them.