Jeremiah 33

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, 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 made the earth, and who formed it to establish 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 you, and will show you great and hidden things, which 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 thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against 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 while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, 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:

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 'Look, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them 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 cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

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 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.

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 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.'

[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: 'Yet again there shall 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,

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 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 house of the LORD." For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first,' 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: 'Yet again shall there 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.

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, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands 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 'Look, 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.

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, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute 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 shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall 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 thus says the LORD: "David shall never want 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 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."'"

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 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

[Then] Yahweh gave me this message:

20 "Thus says the LORD: 'If you 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;

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

21 then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, 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 As the host of heaven can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to 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 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

Yahweh gave another message to me. He said,

24 "Do not consider what this people has spoken, saying, 'The two families which the LORD chose, he has cast them off?' Thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

“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 my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances 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 will I also cast away the descendants of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy 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.’”