Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 280
268
IMMERSE
•
PROPHETS
32:37–33:11
mind to command such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to
sin so greatly!
“Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been say
ing, ‘It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.’
But this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring
my people back again from all the countries where I will scatter them in
my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace
and safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give
them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own
good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an ever
lasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will
put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I
will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly
replant them in this land.
“This is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all these calamities
on them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. Fields will again
be bought and sold in this land about which you now say, ‘It has been rav
aged by the Babylonians, a desolate land where people and animals have
all disappeared.’ Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold—deeds
signed and sealed and witnessed—in the land of Benjamin and here in
Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country, in the foothills of
Judah and in the Negev, too. For someday I will restore prosperity to them.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord
gave him this second message: “This is what the Lord says—the Lord
who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the
Lord: Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know
about things to come. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
You have torn down the houses of this city and even the king’s palace to
get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps and swords
of the enemy. You expect to fight the Babylonians, but the men of this city
are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my
terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.
“Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds
and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah
and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against
me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. 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.
