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JER EM IAH 34
page 699
8 I will cleanse them of their sins against me and
forgive all their sins of rebellion. 9 Then this city
will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the
nations of the earth! The people of the world
will see all the good I do for my people, and they
will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.
10 “This is what the Lord says: You have
said, ‘This is a desolate land where people and
animals have all disappeared.’ Yet in the empty
streets of Jerusalem and Judah’s other towns,
there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of joy
and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms
and brides will be heard again, along with the
joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving
offerings to the Lord. They will sing,
‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
for the Lord is good.
His faithful love endures forever!’
For I will restore the prosperity of this land to
what it was in the past, says the Lord.
12 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
says: This land—though it is now desolate and
has no people and animals—will once more
have pastures where shepherds can lead their
flocks. 13 Once again shepherds will count their
flocks in the towns of the hill country, the foothills of Judah,* the Negev, the land of Benjamin,
the vicinity of Jerusalem, and all the towns of
Judah. I, the Lord, have spoken!
14 “The day will come, says the Lord, when I
will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I
have promised them.
15
16
“In those days and at that time
I will raise up a righteous descendant*
from King David’s line.
He will do what is just and right throughout
the land.
In that day Judah will be saved,
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
And this will be its name:
‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’*
17 For this is what the Lord says: David will have
a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever. 18 And there will always be Levitical priests
to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and
sacrifices to me.”
19 Then this message came to Jeremiah from
the Lord: 20 “This is what the Lord says: If
you can break my covenant with the day and
the night so that one does not follow the other,
21 only then will my covenant with my servant
David be broken. Only then will he no longer
have a descendant to reign on his throne. The
same is true for my covenant with the Levitical
priests who minister before me. 22 And as the
33:13 Hebrew the Shephelah. 33:15 Hebrew a righteous
branch. 33:16 Hebrew Yahweh Tsidqenu. 34:1 Hebrew
Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand
on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will
multiply the descendants of my servant David
and the Levites who minister before me.”
23 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 24 “Have you noticed what people
are saying?—‘The Lord chose Judah and Israel
and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be
counted as a nation. 25 But this is what the Lord
says: I would no more reject my people than I
would change my laws that govern night and
day, earth and sky. 26 I will never abandon the
descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or
change the plan that David’s descendants will
rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land
and have mercy on them.”
A Warning for Zedekiah
King Nebuchadnezzar* of Babylon
came with all the armies from the kingdoms he ruled, and he fought against Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. At that time this
message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go
to King Zedekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This
is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am
about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. 3 You will not
escape his grasp but will be captured and taken
to meet the king of Babylon face to face. Then
you will be exiled to Babylon.
4 “‘But listen to this promise from the Lord,
O Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the
Lord says: You will not be killed in war 5 but will
die peacefully. People will burn incense in your
memory, just as they did for your ancestors, the
kings who preceded you. They will mourn for
you, crying, “Alas, our master is dead!” This I
have decreed, says the Lord.’”
6 So Jeremiah the prophet delivered the message to King Zedekiah of Judah. 7 At this time the
Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem, Lachish, and Azekah—the only fortified cities of
Judah not yet captured.
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Freedom for Hebrew Slaves
8 This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord
after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the
people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves. 9 He
had ordered all the people to free their Hebrew
slaves—both men and women. No one was to
keep a fellow Judean in bondage. 10 The officials
and all the people had obeyed the king’s command, 11 but later they changed their minds.
They took back the men and women they had
freed, forcing them to be slaves again.
12 So the Lord gave them this message
through Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord,
the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with
your ancestors long ago when I rescued them