Jeremias 33
1 IN THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF KING JOAKIM SON OF JOSIAS THERE CAME THIS WORD FROM THE LORD.
Moreover the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still locked up in the court of the guard, saying,
2 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.
“The LORD who does it, the LORD who forms it to establish it—the LORD is his name, says:
3 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.
‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’
4 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,
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defence against the mounds and against the sword:
5 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;
‘While men come to fight with the Kasdim, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city,
6 then will I make this house as Selo, and I will make [this] city a curse to all the nations of all the earth.
behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
7 And the priests, and the false prophets, and all the people heard Jeremias speaking these words in the house of the Lord.
I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel, and will build them as at the first.
8 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,
I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me and by which they have transgressed against me.
9 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.
This city will be to me for a name of joy, for praise, and for glory, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I provide to it.’”
10 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.
The LORD says: “Yet again there will be heard in this place, about which you say, ‘It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,’
11 Then the priests and the false prophets said to the princes and to all the people, The judgment of death [is due] to this man; because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.
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 the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into the LORD’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first,” says the LORD.
12 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.
The LORD of Hosts says: “Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13 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.
In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of him who counts them,” says the LORD.
14 And behold, I am in your hands; do to me as is expedient, and as it is best for you.
“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.
15 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.
“In those days and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
16 Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the false prophets; Judgment of death is not [due] to this man; for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.
In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: The LORD our righteousness.”
17 And there rose up men of the elders of the land, and said to all the assembly of the people,
For the LORD says: “David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.
18 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 plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a desolation, and the mountain of the house shall be a thicket of trees.
The Levitical priests won’t lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.”
19 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.
The LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,
20 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.
“The LORD says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there will not be day and night in their time,
21 And king Joakim and all the princes heard all his words, and sought to kill him; and Urias heard [it] and went into Egypt.
then my covenant could also be broken with David my servant, that he won’t have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levitical priests, my ministers.
22 And the king sent men into Egypt;
As the army of the sky can’t be counted, and the sand of the sea can’t be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.’”
23 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.
The LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 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.
“Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has the LORD cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”
The LORD says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,
then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them.”
