UST JER Chapter 33

◄ JER 33 ► ║ ═ ©

33 Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah a second message while soldiers were still guarding me in the guard’s courtyard inside King Zedekiah’s palace. Yahweh said, 2 “This is what I, Yahweh, the one who made the earth, Yahweh who shaped it and put it in its place, say to the people of Jerusalem:—My name is Yahweh. 3 ‘Call out to me, and I will respond to you; I will tell you great things that I have previously hidden and that you could never discover on your own and do not know.’ 4 This is what I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, say about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah: ‘The people of this city have torn down some of their houses, and even parts of the king’s palace, to get materials to strengthen the walls around the city, so that the soldiers of Babylonia will not be able to break through the walls after they climb up the ramps that they have built against the walls and kill the inhabitants of the city with their swords. 5 The people are expecting to fight against the army from Babylonia, but what will happen is that the corpses of the men of this city will fill these houses. I will let their enemies kill those men because I am extremely angry with them. I have abandoned this city because of all the wicked things that its people have done. 6 Know that there will be a time when I will restore the people of this city. I will reveal to them my abundantly peaceful way of living and teach them my perfectly right way to live. 7 I will cause the people of Judah and the people of Israel to prosper again, and I will enable them to rebuild their towns as they were before. 8 I will remove all their guiltiness that they incurred by sinning against me, and I will forgive them for all the evil things that they have done against me by which they rebelled against me. 9 When that happens people from all the nations of the earth will rejoice and praise me and honor me. They will hear about all the good things that I am doing for the people of this city, and because of that they will fear me, and they will tremble because I have blessed the people in this city with many good things and have caused them to live peacefully.’

10 This is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘You people are saying that this land is a desolate land that no longer has people and animals living in it. However, some day in the streets of Jerusalem that are now empty of people and animals, and in the other towns of Judah, people will hear 11 others making joyful sounds. People will hear the sound of brides and bridegrooms celebrating. They will hear the sound of people saying, “Give thanks to Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies for he is good and faithfully loves us forever,” as they bring their offerings to my temple. They will sing that song because I will cause the people of this land to prosper as much as they did before.’ This is what I Yahweh say.

12 This is what I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, say: ‘This land is now desolate; there are no people or animals living here However, in this land there will again be pastures where shepherds will lead their flocks to rest. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the western foothills, in the cities of the southern wilderness, in the region where the descendants of Benjamin live, in the areas around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shepherds will again count their sheep as the sheep walk past them.’ That will surely happen because I, Yahweh have said it.

14 Listen to this! A time is coming when I, Yahweh will do for the people of Israel and the people of Judah all the good things that I promised to do for them.

15 At that time I will appoint a righteous man who will be a descendant of King David.

Throughout the land, he will do what is just and right.

16 At that time, I will rescue the people of Judah,

and the people who live in Jerusalem will be safe.

People will call their city, ‘Yahweh is the one who makes things right for us.’

17 This is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘There will always be a descendant of King David to rule over the people of Israel. 18 There will also always be priests, who are descendants of Levi, standing in front of me to serve me. They will offer sacrifices that they completely burn on the altar, and they will burn grain offerings and present other sacrifices to me.’ ”

19 Then Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah another message. He said, 20 “This is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘I have set up the fixed order that governs the daytime and the nighttime, so that they always come at their proper times, and you certainly cannot annul that order. 21 In a similar way, you cannot annul the covenant that I made with King David, who served me, my promise that his descendants will always rule as kings. You also cannot annul my covenant with the descendants of Levi, who serve me as priests. 22 As no one can count the stars in the sky, and no one can measure the grains of sand along the seashore. In a similar way, I will give a huge number of descendants to King David, who serves me, and to the descendants of Levi, who serve me as priests.’ ”

23 Then Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, another message. He said, 24 You have surely noticed what these people are saying. They say, ‘Yahweh chose the two groups, the people of Israel and the people of Judah, but now he has rejected them.’ By saying this, they are despising my people, and they no longer regard the Israelites as a nation. 25 However, this is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘I will certainly not change my laws of nature that I have established to control the day and the night, the sky and the earth. 26 Just as surely as I have firmly established those laws of nature, I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or the descendants of David, who served me. I will always choose rulers from among David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will cause them to prosper again, and I will act mercifully toward them.’ ”