Jeremiah:30-33

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* The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying : * 'Thus speaketh the LORD , the God of Israel , saying : Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book . * For , lo , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will turn the captivity of My people Israel and Judah , saith the LORD ; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers , and they shall possess it .' * And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah . * For thus saith the LORD : We have heard a voice of trembling , of fear , and not of peace . * Ask ye now , and see whether a man doth travail with child ; wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins , as a woman in travail , and all faces are turned into paleness ? * Alas ! for that day is great , so that none is like it ; and it is a time of trouble unto Jacob , but out of it shall he be saved . * And it shall come to pass in that day , saith the LORD of hosts , that I will break his yoke from off thy neck , and will burst thy bands ; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman ; * But they shall serve the LORD their God , and David their king , whom I will raise up unto them . * Therefore fear thou not , O Jacob My servant , saith the LORD ; neither be dismayed , O Israel ; for , lo , I will save thee from afar , and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease , and none shall make him afraid . * For I am with thee , saith the LORD , to save thee ; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee , but I will not make a full end of thee ; for I will correct thee in measure , and will not utterly destroy thee . * For thus saith the LORD : Thy hurt is incurable , and thy wound is grievous . * None deemeth of thy wound that it may be bound up ; thou hast no healing medicines . * All thy lovers have forgotten thee , they seek thee not ; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy , with the chastisement of a cruel one ; for the greatness of thine iniquity , because thy sins were increased . * Why criest thou for thy hurt , that thy pain is incurable ? For the greatness of thine iniquity , because thy sins were increased , I have done these things unto thee . * Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured , and all thine adversaries , every one of them , shall go into captivity ; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil , and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey . * For I will restore health unto thee , and I will heal thee of thy wounds , saith the LORD ; because they have called thee an outcast : 'She is Zion , there is none that careth for her .' * Thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will turn the captivity of Jacob 's tents , and have compassion on his dwelling-places ; and the city shall be builded upon her own mound , and the palace shall be inhabited upon its wonted place . * And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry ; and I will multiply them , and they shall not be diminished , I will also increase them , and they shall not dwindle away . * Their children also shall be as aforetime , and their congregation shall be established before Me , and I will punish all that oppress them . * And their prince shall be of themselves , and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them ; and I will cause him to draw near , and he shall approach unto Me ; for who is he that hath pledged his heart to approach unto Me ? saith the LORD . * And ye shall be My people , and I will be your God . * Behold , a storm of the LORD is gone forth in fury , a sweeping storm ; it shall whirl upon the head of the wicked . * The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return , until He have executed , and till He have performed the purposes of His heart ; in the end of days ye shall consider it . * At that time , saith the LORD , will I be the God of all the families of Israel , and they shall be My people . * Thus saith the LORD : The people that were left of the sword have found grace in the wilderness , even Israel , when I go to cause him to rest . * 'From afar the LORD appeared unto me .' 'Yea , I have loved thee with an everlasting love ; therefore with affection have I drawn thee . * Again will I build thee , and thou shalt be built , O virgin of Israel ; again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets , and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry . * Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria ; the planters shall plant , and shall have the use thereof . * For there shall be a day , that the watchmen shall call upon the mount Ephraim : arise ye , and let us go up to Zion , unto the LORD our God .' * For thus saith the LORD : Sing with gladness for Jacob , and shout at the head of the nations ; announce ye , praise ye , and say : 'O LORD , save Thy people , The remnant of Israel .' * Behold , I will bring them from the north country , and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth , and with them the blind and the lame , the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together ; a great company shall they return hither . * They shall come with weeping , and with supplications will I lead them ; I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters , in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble ; for I am become a father to Israel , and Ephraim is My first-born . * Hear the word of the LORD , O ye nations , and declare it in the isles afar off , and say : 'He that scattered Israel doth gather him , and keep him , as a shepherd doth his flock .' * For the LORD hath ransomed Jacob , and He redeemeth him from the hand of him that is stronger than he . * And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion , and shall flow unto the goodness of the LORD , to the corn , and to the wine , and to the oil , and to the young of the flock and of the herd ; and their soul shall be as a watered garden , and they shall not pine any more at all . * Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance , and the young men and the old together ; for I will turn their mourning into joy , and will comfort them , and make them rejoice from their sorrow . * And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness , and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness , saith the LORD . * Thus saith the LORD : A voice is heard in Ramah , lamentation , and bitter weeping , Rachel weeping for her children ; she refuseth to be comforted for her children , because they are not . * Thus saith the LORD : Refrain thy voice from weeping , and thine eyes from tears ; for thy work shall be rewarded , saith the LORD ; and they shall come back from the land of the enemy . * And there is hope for thy future , saith the LORD ; and thy children shall return to their own border . * I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself : 'Thou hast chastised me , and I was chastised , as a calf untrained ; turn thou me , and I shall be turned , for Thou art the LORD my God . * Surely after that I was turned , I repented , and after that I was instructed , I smote upon my thigh ; I was ashamed , yea , even confounded , because I did bear the reproach of my youth .' * Is Ephraim a darling son unto Me ? Is he a child that is dandled ? For as often as I speak of him , I do earnestly remember him still ; Therefore My heart yearneth for him , I will surely have compassion upon him , saith the LORD . * Set thee up waymarks , make thee guide-posts ; set thy heart toward the high-way , even the way by which thou wentest ; Return , O virgin of Israel , return to these thy cities . * How long wilt thou turn away coyly , O thou backsliding daughter ? For the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth : a woman shall court a man . * Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof , when I shall turn their captivity : 'The LORD bless thee , O habitation of righteousness , O mountain of holiness .' * And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together : the husbandmen , and they that go forth with flocks . * For I have satiated the weary soul , and every pining soul have I replenished . * Upon this I awaked , and beheld ; and my sleep was sweet unto me . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man , and with the seed of beast . * And it shall come to pass , that like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down , and to overthrow and to destroy , and to afflict ; so will I watch over them to build and to plant , saith the LORD . * In those days they shall say no more : 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes , and the children 's teeth are set on edge .' * But every one shall die for his own iniquity ; every man that eateth the sour grapes , his teeth shall be set on edge . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel , and with the house of Judah ; * not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; forasmuch as they broke My covenant , although I was a lord over them , saith the LORD . * But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days , saith the LORD , I will put My law in their inward parts , and in their heart will I write it ; and I will be their God , and they shall be My people ; * and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour , and every man his brother , saying : 'Know the LORD '; for they shall all know Me , from the least of them unto the greatest of them , saith the LORD ; for I will forgive their iniquity , and their sin will I remember no more . * Thus saith the LORD , Who giveth the sun for a light by day , and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night , who stirreth up the sea , that the waves thereof roar , the LORD of hosts is His name : * If these ordinances depart from before Me , saith the LORD , then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever . * Thus saith the LORD : If heaven above can be measured , and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath , then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done , saith the LORD . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner . * And the measuring line shall yet go out straight forward unto the hill Gareb , and shall turn about unto Goah . * And the whole valley of the dead bodies , and of the ashes , and all the fields unto the brook Kidron , unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east , shall be holy unto the LORD ; it shall not be plucked up , nor thrown down any more for ever . * The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah , which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar . * Now at that time the king of Babylon 's army was besieging Jerusalem ; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard , which was in the king of Judah 's house . * For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up , saying : 'Wherefore dost thou prophesy , and say : Thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he shall take it ; * and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans , but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon , and shall speak with him mouth to mouth , and his eyes shall behold his eyes ; * and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon , and there shall he be until I remember him , saith the LORD ; though ye fight with the Chaldeans , ye shall not prosper ?' * And Jeremiah said : 'The word of the LORD came unto me , saying : * Behold , Hanamel , the son of Shallum thine uncle , shall come unto thee , saying : Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth ; for the right of redemption is thine to buy it .' * So Hanamel mine uncle 's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD , and said unto me : 'Buy my field , I pray thee , that is in Anathoth , which is in the land of Benjamin ; for the right of inheritance is thine , and the redemption is thine ; buy it for thyself .' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD . * And I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel mine uncle 's son , and weighed him the money , even seventeen shekels of silver . * And I subscribed the deed , and sealed it , and called witnesses , and weighed him the money in the balances . * So I took the deed of the purchase , both that which was sealed , containing the terms and conditions , and that which was open ; * and I delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah , the son of Mahseiah , in the presence of Hanamel mine uncle 's son , and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the deed of the purchase , before all the Jews that sat in the court of the guard . * And I charged Baruch before them , saying : * 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Take these deeds , this deed of the purchase , both that which is sealed , and this deed which is open , and put them in an earthen vessel ; that they may continue many days . * For thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land .' * Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah , I prayed unto the LORD , saying : * 'Ah Lord GOD ! behold , Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and by Thy outstretched arm ; there is nothing too hard for Thee ; * who showest mercy unto thousands , and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them ; the great , the mighty God , the LORD of hosts is His name ; * great in counsel , and mighty in work ; whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men , to give every one according to his ways , and according to the fruit of his doings ; * who didst set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt , even unto this day , and in Israel and among other men ; and madest Thee a name , as at this day ; * and didst bring forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs , and with wonders , and with a strong hand , and with an outstretched arm , and with great terror ; * and gavest them this land , which Thou didst swear to their fathers to give them , a land flowing with milk and honey ; * and they came in , and possessed it ; but they hearkened not to Thy voice , neither walked in Thy law ; they have done nothing of all that Thou commandedst them to do ; therefore Thou hast caused all this evil to befall them ; * behold the mounds , they are come unto the city to take it ; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it , because of the sword , and of the famine , and of the pestilence ; and what Thou hast spoken is come to pass ; and , behold , Thou seest it . * Yet Thou hast said unto me , O Lord GOD : Buy thee the field for money , and call witnesses ; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans .' * Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah , saying : * 'Behold , I am the LORD , the God of all flesh ; is there any thing too hard for Me ? * Therefore thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans , and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon , and he shall take it ; * and the Chaldeans , that fight against this city , shall come and set this city on fire , and burn it , with the houses , upon whose roofs they have offered unto Baal , and poured out drink-offerings unto other gods , to provoke Me . * For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done that which was evil in My sight from their youth ; for the children of Israel have only provoked Me with the work of their hands , saith the LORD . * For this city hath been to Me a provocation of Mine anger and of My fury from the day that they built it even unto this day , that I should remove it from before My face ; * because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah , which they have done to provoke Me , they , their kings , their princes , their priests , and their prophets , and the men of Judah , and the inhabitants of Jerusalem . * And they have turned unto Me the back , and not the face ; and though I taught them , teaching them betimes and often , yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction . * But they set their abominations in the house whereupon My name is called , to defile it . * And they built the high places of Baal , which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom , to set apart their sons and their daughters unto Molech ; which I commanded them not , neither came it into My mind , that they should do this abomination ; to cause Judah to sin . * And now therefore thus saith the LORD , the God of Israel , concerning this city , whereof ye say : It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword , and by the famine , and by the pestilence : * Behold , I will gather them out of all the countries , whither I have driven them in Mine anger , and in My fury , and in great wrath ; and I will bring them back unto this place , and I will cause them to dwell safely ; * and they shall be My people , and I will be their God ; * and I will give them one heart and one way , that they may fear Me for ever ; for the good of them , and of their children after them ; * and I will make an everlasting covenant with them , that I will not turn away from them , to do them good ; and I will put My fear in their hearts , that they shall not depart from Me . * Yea , I will rejoice over them to do them good , and I will plant them in this land in truth with My whole heart and with My whole soul . * For thus saith the LORD : Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people , so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them . * And fields shall be bought in this land , whereof ye say : It is desolate , without man or beast ; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans . * Men shall buy fields for money , and subscribe the deeds , and seal them , and call witnesses , in the land of Benjamin , and in the places about Jerusalem , and in the cities of Judah , and in the cities of the hill-country , and in the cities of the Lowland , and in the cities of the South ; for I will cause their captivity to return , saith the LORD .' * Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time , while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard , saying : * Thus saith the LORD the Maker thereof , the LORD that formed it to establish it , the LORD is His name : * Call unto Me , and I will answer thee , and will tell thee great things , and hidden , which thou knowest not . * For thus saith 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 for mounds , and for ramparts ; * whereon they come to fight with the Chaldeans , even to fill them with the dead bodies of men , whom I have slain in Mine anger and in My fury , and for all whose wickedness I have hid My face from this city : * Behold , I will bring it healing and cure , and I will cure them ; and I will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth . * And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return , and will build them , as at the first . * And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity , whereby they have sinned against Me ; and I will pardon all their iniquities , whereby they have sinned against Me , and whereby they have transgressed against Me . * And 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 unto them , and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure unto it . * Thus saith the LORD : Yet again there shall be heard in this place , whereof ye say : It is waste , without man and without beast , even in the cities of Judah , and in the streets of Jerusalem , that are desolate , without man and without inhabitant and without beast , * 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 : 'Give thanks to the LORD of hosts , for the LORD is good , for His mercy endureth for ever ', even of them that bring offerings of thanksgiving into the house of the LORD . For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first , saith the LORD . * Thus saith the LORD of hosts : Yet again shall there be in this place , which is waste , without man and without beast , and in all the cities thereof , a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down . * In the cities of the hill-country , in the cities of the Lowland , 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 again pass under the hands of him that counteth them , saith the LORD . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah . * In those days , and at that time , will I cause a shoot of righteousness to grow up unto David ; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land . * In those days shall Judah be saved , and Jerusalem shall dwell safely ; and this is the name whereby she shall be called , the LORD is our righteousness . * For thus saith the LORD : There shall not be cut off unto David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ; * neither shall there be cut off unto the priests the Levites a man before Me to offer burnt-offerings , and to burn meal-offerings , and to do sacrifice continually . * And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah , saying : * Thus saith the LORD : If ye can break My covenant with the day , and My covenant with the night , so that there should not be day and night in their season ; * Then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant , that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne ; and with the Levites the priests , My ministers . * As the host of heaven cannot be numbered , neither the sand of the sea measured ; so will I multiply the seed of David My servant , and the Levites that minister unto Me . * And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah , saying : * 'Considerest thou not what this people have spoken , saying : The two families which the LORD did choose , He hath cast them off ? and they contemn My people , that they should be no more a nation before them . * Thus saith the LORD : If My covenant be not with day and night , if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth ; * then will I also cast away 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 cause their captivity to return , and will have compassion on them .' * The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon , and all his army , and all the kingdoms of the land of his dominion , and all the peoples , fought against Jerusalem , and against all the cities thereof , saying :

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