Jeremiah 33

1 The word of Jehovah came also to Jeremiah the second time, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, and said: —

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

2 Thus saith Jehovah, who doeth it, Jehovah who disposeth it, to establish it; Jehovah 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 Call to me, and I will answer thee, And I will show thee great things, And hidden things which thou knowest not.

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 thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Concerning the houses of this city, And concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, Which are thrown down toward the mounds and the sword,

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 To fight with the Chaldaeans, And to fill them with the dead bodies of men, Whom I have smitten in mine anger and in my wrath, And for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city:

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 Behold, I will bind up her wounds, and heal them, And I will reveal to them abundance of peace and stability.

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 bring back the captives of Judah, And the captives of Israel, And I will build them, as at the first.

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

8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, Whereby they have sinned against me; And I will forgive all their iniquities, Whereby they have sinned, And have rebelled 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 it [[the city]] shall be to me a name of joy, A praise and a glory among all the nations of the earth, Who shall hear of all the good which I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble because of all the good, And because of all the prosperity, which I bestow upon 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 Thus saith Jehovah: Yet again shall be heard in this place, Of which ye say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast,” In the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, Which are desolate, without man, Even without an inhabitant 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 The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, The voice of them that say, “Praise ye Jehovah of hosts, For Jehovah is good, For his mercy endureth forever!” And of them that bring an offering of praise to the house of Jehovah. For I will restore the captives of the land, As at the first, saith Jehovah.

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 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet again shall there be in this place, Which is desolate, without man and without beast, And in all the cities thereof, A habitation of shepherds, who shall cause their flocks to 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 cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the plain, And in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, And in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, Shall the flocks pass yet again Under the hands of him that numbereth them, saith Jehovah.

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 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That I will perform that good thing Which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel, And concerning the house 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 Will I cause to grow up from David a righteous branch, Who shall maintain justice and equity 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 shall Judah be saved, And Jerusalem shall dwell securely; And this is the name which shall be given her, Jehovah-is-our-salvation.

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 thus saith Jehovah: There shall never fail from David A man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

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

18 Neither from the priests and the Levites Shall a man fail before me, To offer burnt-offerings, and to kindle meat-offerings, And to perform sacrifice continually.

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

19 And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah and said,

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:

20 Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant concerning the day, And my covenant concerning the night, So that there shall no more be day and night in their season,

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 also may my covenant with David my servant be broken, So that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, And 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 the host of heaven cannot be numbered, Nor the sand of the sea measured, So will I multiply the posterity of David my servant, And the Levites who minister to me.

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 The word of Jehovah came also to Jeremiah, saying:

Another message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:

24 Seest thou not what this people speaketh, saying, “The two families, which Jehovah chose, he hath cast off”? Therefore they despise my people, So that they are no more a people in their eyes.

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 Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant concerning the day and the night be not maintained, And if I have not established the ordinances of the heaven and the earth,

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 will I cast away the posterity of Jacob, and of David, my servant, So as not to take of his posterity to be rulers Over the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; For I will bring them back from their captivity, And have mercy upon 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.