Jeremiah 33

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined to the atrium of the prison, saying:

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

2 “Thus says the Lord, who will prepare, and form, and accomplish 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 Cry out to me and I will heed you. And I will announce to you great things, things that are certain, though you do not know them.

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

4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Judah, which have been destroyed, and to the fortifications, and to 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 of those who have arrived, so that they may fight with the Chaldeans, and so that they may have their fill of the dead bodies of the men whom I have struck down in my fury and in my indignation, concealing my face from this city, because of all their 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 Behold, I will lead over them scars and health, and I will cure them. And I will reveal to them an invocation 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 And I will convert the turning away of Judah and the turning away of Jerusalem. And I will build them up, just as from the beginning.

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 their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me. And I will forgive all their iniquities, by which they have offended against me and have despised 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 And this will be for me: a name, and a joy, and a praise, and an exultation, among all the nations of the earth who will hear about all the good things that I will accomplish for them. And they will be afraid and troubled over all these good things, and over all the peace, that I will accomplish for them.

[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 Thus says the Lord: Still shall there be heard in this place, (which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast, ) and in the cities of Judah and outside of Jerusalem, (which are desolate, without man, and without an inhabitant and without cattle, )

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 voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: ‘Confess to the Lord of hosts! For the Lord is good! For his mercy is eternal!’ and the voice of those fulfilling their vows in the house of the Lord. For I will lead back the turning away of the land, just as from the beginning, 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 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Still shall there be in this place, (which is desolate without man and without beast, ) and in all of its cities: a habitation for the shepherds giving rest to 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 For even in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities on the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and all around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, still shall the flocks travel by the hand of him who numbers 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 approaching, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel and to 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 the seedling of justice to spring up from David, and he will accomplish judgment and justice upon the earth.

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 live in confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: ‘The Lord, our Just One.’

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 thus says the Lord: There shall not cease to be a man from David sitting upon 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 And there shall not cease to be a man from the priests and from the Levites before my face, who offers holocausts, and burns sacrifices, and kills victims, for days without end.”

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, saying:

[Then] Yahweh gave me this message:

20 “Thus says the Lord: If my covenant with the day is able to be nullified, or my covenant with the night, such that there would be no day and no night in their time,

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

21 then, too, my covenant with David, my servant, may be nullified, such that he would not have a son who reigns upon his throne, with both the Levites and the priests as my ministers.

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 Just as the stars of heaven are not able to be numbered, and the sand of the sea is not able to be measured, so will I multiply the offspring of David, my servant, and the Levites, my ministers.”

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

Yahweh gave another message to me. He said,

24 “Have you not seen what this people has spoken? They say: ‘The two families which the Lord had chosen have been rejected.’ And so they have despised my people, as if they were no longer a nation in their sight.

“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 Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with the day and the night, and my laws over 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 truly I will also cast aside the offspring of Jacob, and of David, my servant, so that I do not take up any of his offspring to be leaders over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will lead back their turning away, and I will take pity 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.’”