Jeremiah:33-34

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* 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 : * Thus saith the LORD , the God of Israel : Go , and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah , and tell him : Thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon , and he shall burn it with fire ; * and thou shalt not escape out of his hand , but shalt surely be taken , and delivered into his hand ; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon , and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth , and thou shalt go to Babylon . * Yet hear the word of the LORD , O Zedekiah king of Judah : Thus saith the LORD concerning thee : Thou shalt not die by the sword ; * thou shalt die in peace ; and with the burnings of thy fathers , the former kings that were before thee , so shall they make a burning for thee ; and they shall lament thee : 'Ah lord !' for I have spoken the word , saith the LORD . * Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem , * when the king of Babylon 's army fought against Jerusalem , and against all the cities of Judah that were left , against Lachish and against Azekah ; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities . * The word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem , to proclaim liberty unto them ; * that every man should let his manservant , and every man his maidservant , being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman , go free ; that none should make bondmen of them , even of a Jew his brother ; * and all the princes and all the people hearkened , that had entered into the covenant to let every one his man-servant , and every one his maid-servant , go free , and not to make bondmen of them any more ; they hearkened , and let them go ; * but afterwards they turned , and caused the servants and the handmaids , whom they had let go free , to return , and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids ; * therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying : * Thus saith the LORD , the God of Israel : I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt , out of the house of bondage , saying : * 'At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew , that hath been sold unto thee , and hath served thee six years , thou shalt let him go free from thee '; but your fathers hearkened not unto Me , neither inclined their ear . * And ye were now turned , and had done that which is right in Mine eyes , in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour ; and ye had made a covenant before Me in the house whereon My name is called ; * but ye turned and profaned My name , and caused every man his servant , and every man his handmaid , whom ye had let go free at their pleasure , to return ; and ye brought them into subjection , to be unto you for servants and for handmaids . * Therefore thus saith the LORD : Ye have not hearkened unto Me , to proclaim liberty , every man to his brother , and every man to his neighbour ; behold , I proclaim for you a liberty , saith the LORD , unto the sword , unto the pestilence , and unto the famine ; and I will make you a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth . * And I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant , that have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me , when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof ; * the princes of Judah , and the princes of Jerusalem , the officers , and the priests , and all the people of the land , that passed between the parts of the calf ; * I will even give them into the hand of their enemies , and into the hand of them that seek their life ; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven , and to the beasts of the earth . * And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies , and into the hand of them that seek their life , and into the hand of the king of Babylon 's army , that are gone up from you . * Behold , I will command , saith the LORD , and cause them to return to this city ; and they shall fight against it , and take it , and burn it with fire ; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation , without inhabitant . * The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah , king of Judah , saying :

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