Restoration of Israel and Judah
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’ ”
4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For the Lord says:
“We have heard a voice of trembling,
a voice of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask now, and see
whether a man labors with child.
Why do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach,
like a woman in labor,
and every face has turned pale?
7 Alas! for that day will be awful,
so that none is like it.
It is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
but he will be saved from it.
8 It will come to pass in that day,
says the Lord of Hosts,
that I will break his yoke from off your neck
and will shatter your bonds.
Strangers will no longer make them their bondservants,
9 but they will serve the Lord their God,
and David their king
whom I will raise up to them.
10 Therefore do not be afraid,
O Jacob my servant, says the Lord.
Do not be dismayed, Israel.
For I will save you from afar
and save your offspring
from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return
and will be quiet and at ease.
No one will make him afraid.
11 For I am with you, to save you,
says the Lord
for I will make a full end of all the nations
where I have scattered you,
but I will not make a full end of you,
but I will correct you in measure
and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
12 For the Lord says,
“Your hurt is incurable.
Your wound is grievous.
13 There is no one to plead your cause,
that you may be bandaged up.
You have no healing medicines.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you.
They do not seek you.
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
with the chastisement of a cruel one,
for the magnitude of your iniquity,
because your sins were increased.
15 Why do you cry over your injury?
Your pain is incurable.
For the magnitude of your iniquity,
because your sins have increased,
I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all those who devour you will be devoured.
All your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity.
Those who plunder you will be plundered.
I will make all who prey on you become prey.
17 For I will restore health to you,
and I will heal you of your wounds,” says the Lord,
“because they have called you an outcast,
saying, ‘It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.’ ”
The Restoration of Jacob
18 The Lord says:
“I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents,
and have compassion on his dwelling places.
The city will be built on its own hill,
and the palace will be inhabited in its own place.
19 Thanksgiving will proceed from them
with the sound of those who celebrate.
I will multiply them, and they will not be few,
I will also glorify them, and they will not be small.
20 Their children also will be as before,
and their congregation will be established before me.
I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their leader will be one of them,
and their ruler will proceed from among them.
I will cause him to draw near, and he will approach me,
for who is he who has had the boldness to approach me?” says the Lord.
22 “You shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
23 The storm of the Lord, his wrath,
has gone out–a sweeping storm.
It will burst on the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return
until he has accomplished it,
and until he has performed the intentions of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it.”