Jeremiah 33
33
The LORD Will Restore and Heal Judah
1While Jeremiah was still being held in the courtyard of the prison, the Lord spoke his word to him a second time. The Lord said, 2“I made ⌞the earth⌟, formed it, and set it in place. My name is the Lord. This is what the Lord says: 3Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mysterious things that you do not know. 4The houses in this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah have been torn down to be used against the dirt ramps and weapons of the Babylonians. This is what the Lord God of Israel says about this: 5The people of Israel fought the Babylonians. Now their houses are filled with the bodies of their own people I killed in my anger and my fury. I will hide my face from this city because of its wickedness.
6“But I will heal this city and restore it to health. I will heal its people, and I will give them peace and security. 7I will restore Judah and Israel and rebuild them as they were before. 8I will cleanse them from all the sins that they have committed against me. I will forgive them for all the sins that they have committed against me and for rebelling against me. 9Then Jerusalem will be my source of joy, praise, and honor. All the nations on earth will hear about all the blessings that I will give to Jerusalem. They will be afraid and tremble because of all the prosperity that I will provide for it.
10“This is what the Lord says: You have said that this place is ruined and that no people or animals live in it. It’s true! The cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are deserted. No people or animals live there. But once again you will hear 11the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms. You will hear those who bring thank offerings to the Lord’s temple say,
‘Give thanks to the Lord of Armies because the Lord is good,
because his mercy endures forever.’
I will restore the fortunes of the land to what they were before,” says the Lord.
12“This is what the Lord of Armies says: In this deserted place, where no people or animals live, and in all its cities, there will once again be pastures where shepherds can rest their flocks. 13In the cities on the mountains, in the foothills, in the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the area around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shepherds will once again count their sheep,” says the Lord.
14“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will keep the promise that I made to Israel and Judah. 15In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David. He will do what is fair and right in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live securely. Jerusalem will be called The Lord Our Righteousness.
17“This what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel. 18The Levitical priests will never fail to have a descendant in my presence to sacrifice burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare daily sacrifices.”
19The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 20“This is what the Lord says: Suppose you could break my arrangement #33:20 Or “covenant.” with day and night so that they wouldn’t come at their proper time. 21Then my arrangement with my servant David could be broken, and he would not have a descendant to rule on his throne. The arrangement with my servants the Levitical priests could also be broken. 22I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who serve me like the stars of heaven that cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore that cannot be measured.”
23Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 24“Haven’t you noticed what these people have said? They have said that the Lord has rejected the two families he has chosen. They despise my people, and they no longer consider them a nation.
25“This is what the Lord says: Suppose I hadn’t made an arrangement with day and night or made laws for heaven and earth. 26Then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David. I would not let any of David’s descendants rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, I will restore their fortunes and love them.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 33
33
The Promise of God
1Now Jeremiah was still locked up in the courtyard of the guards. And the Lord spoke his word to him a second time: 2“The Lord made the earth. He made it, and he keeps it safe. The Lord is his name. This is what the Lord says: 3‘Judah, pray to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you important secrets. You have never heard these things before.’ 4The Lord is the God of Israel. He says these things about the houses in Jerusalem and the royal palaces of Judah. They have been torn down to be used against the attack by the Babylonian army. 5The Lord says, ‘Some people will come to fight against the Babylonians. They will fill these houses with dead bodies. I killed those people in my hot anger. I have turned away from this city because of all the evil its people have done.
6“‘But then I will bring health and heal the people there. I will let them enjoy peace and safety. 7I will make good things happen to Judah and Israel again. I will make them strong as in the past. 8They sinned against me. But I will wash away that sin. They did evil and turned away from me, but I will forgive them. 9Then Jerusalem will be a wonderful place! People who live there will be happy. And people from all nations will praise it. This will happen because they will hear about the good things I am doing there. They will be surprised and shocked at the good things and peace I will bring to Jerusalem.’
10“You are saying, ‘Our country is an empty desert. There are no people or animals living there.’ It is now quiet in the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah. There are no people or animals there either. But it will be noisy there soon! 11There will be sounds of joy and gladness. There will be the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms. There will be the sounds of people bringing their offerings to the Temple of the Lord. Their offerings will be to show thanks to the Lord. They will say,
‘Praise the Lord of heaven’s armies!
The Lord is good!
His love continues forever!’
They will say this because I will again do good things for Judah. It will be as in the beginning,” says the Lord.
12This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “This place is empty now. There are no people or animals living here. But there will be shepherds in all the towns of Judah. And there will be pastures where they let their flocks of sheep rest. 13Shepherds will again count their sheep as the sheep walk in front of them. People will be counting their sheep all around the country. They will count them in the mountains and in the western mountain slopes. They will count them in southern Judah and the land of Benjamin. They will count them around Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah!”
The Good Branch
14The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will do the things I promised. I made a special promise to the people of Israel and Judah.
15In those days and at that time,
I will make a righteous branch sprout from David’s family.
He will do what is fair and right in the land.
16At this time Judah will be saved.
The people of Jerusalem will live in safety.
The branch will be named:
The Lord Does What Is Right.”
17This is what the Lord says: “Someone from David’s family will always sit on the throne. And he will rule the family of Israel. 18And there will always be priests from the family of Levi. Those priests will always stand before me. And they will offer burnt offerings and grain offerings. And they will offer sacrifices to me.”
19The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. 20“This is what the Lord says: I have an agreement with day and night. I agreed that they will continue forever. Day and night will always come at the right times. If you could change that agreement, 21you could also change my agreement with David and Levi. Only then would descendants from my servant David not be the kings on their thrones. And only then would the family of Levi not be priests serving me in the Temple. 22But I will give many descendants to my servant David. And I will give them to the family group of Levi who serve me in the Temple. They will be as many as the stars in the sky that no one can count. And they will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore that no one can count.”
23The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: 24“Jeremiah, have you heard what the people are saying? They are saying: ‘The Lord turned away from the two families of Israel and Judah. He chose those people. But now he doesn’t think of them as a nation anymore!’”
25This is what the Lord says: “If I had not made my agreement with day and night, and if I had not made the laws for the sky and earth, 26only then might I turn away from Jacob’s descendants. And only then I might not let the descendants of David my servant rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And I will be kind to those people. I will cause good things to happen to them again.”
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.