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Jeremiah 30:1-33:26

(Jr.31.1-14)

30¹The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, as follows, ²'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, 'Write for yourself in a book all the words I have spoken to you. ³For look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall bring back the captives of my people Israel (and Judah), Yahweh says. I shall make them come back and take possession of the country I gave to their ancestors.' ' ⁴These are the words Yahweh spoke about Israel (and Judah):

⁵Yahweh says this:
We have heard a cry of panic,
of terror, not of peace.
⁶Now ask and see:
can a man bear children?
Then why do I see each man
with his hands on his loins like a woman in labour?
Why has every face grown pale?
⁷Disaster! This is the great day,
no other like it:
a time of distress for Jacob,
though he will be saved from it.

⁸(That day, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, I shall break the yoke now on your neck and snap your chains; and foreigners will enslave you no more, ⁹but Israel and Judah will serve Yahweh their God, and David their king whom I shall raise up for them.)

¹⁰So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Yahweh declares,
Israel, do not be alarmed:
for look, I shall rescue you from distant countries
and your descendants from the country where they are captive.
Jacob will return and be at peace,
secure, with no one to trouble him.
¹¹For I am with you to save you,
Yahweh declares,
I shall make an end of all the nations
where I have driven you,
but I shall not make an end of you,
only discipline you in moderation,
not to let you go quite unpunished.
¹²Yes, Yahweh says this:
Your wound is incurable,
your injury past healing.
¹³There is no one to plead your cause;
for an ulcer there are remedies,
but for you no cure at all.
¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you,
they look for you no more.
Yes, I have struck you as an enemy strikes,
with cruel punishment
(because of your great guilt and countless sins).
¹⁵Why cry out because of your wound?
Your pain is incurable!
Because of your great guilt and countless sins,
I have treated you like this.
¹⁶But all those who devoured you will be devoured,
all your enemies, all, go into captivity,
those who despoiled you will be despoiled,
and all who pillaged you be pillaged.
¹⁷For I shall restore you to health
and heal your wounds, Yahweh declares,
you who used to be called 'Outcast.
Zion for whom no one cares'.
¹⁸Yahweh says this:
Look, I shall restore the tents of Jacob
and take pity on his dwellings:
the town will be rebuilt on its mound,
the stronghold where it ought to stand.
¹⁹From them will come thanksgiving and shouts of joy.
I shall make them increase, they will not decrease;
I shall make them honoured, no more to be humbled.
²⁰Their sons will be as once they were,
their community fixed firmly before me,
and I shall punish all their oppressors.
²¹Their prince will be one of their own,
their ruler come from their own people,
and I shall permit him to approach me freely;
for who, otherwise, would be so bold
as to approach me, Yahweh demands?
²²You will be my people and I shall be your God.
²³Look, Yahweh's hurricane, his wrath, bursts out,
a roaring hurricane,
to burst on the heads of the wicked;
²⁴Yahweh's burning anger will not turn aside until he has performed,
has carried out, what he has in mind.
In the final days, you will understand this.

The LORD's promises to his people. (Jr.30.1-24)

31¹When that time comes, Yahweh declares, I shall be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.

²Yahweh says this:
They have found pardon in the desert,
those who have survived the sword.
Israel is marching to his rest.
³Yahweh has appeared to me from afar;
I have loved you with an everlasting love
and so I still maintain my faithful love for you.
⁴I shall build you once more, yes, you will be rebuilt,
Virgin of Israel!
Once more in your best attire,
and with your tambourines,
you will go out dancing gaily.
⁵Once more you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria
(those who plant will themselves enjoy the fruit).
⁶Yes, a day will come when the watchmen shout on the mountains of Ephraim,
'Up! Let us go up to Zion, to Yahweh our God!'
⁷For Yahweh says this:
Shout with joy for Jacob!
Hail the chief of nations!
Proclaim! Praise! Shout,
'Yahweh has saved his people,
the remnant of Israel!'
⁸Watch, I shall bring them back
from the land of the north
and gather them in from the far ends of the earth.
With them, the blind and the lame,
women with child, women in labour,
all together: a mighty throng will return here!
⁹In tears they will return,
in prayer I shall lead them.
I shall guide them to streams of water,
by a smooth path where they will not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my first-born son.
¹⁰Listen, nations, to the word of Yahweh.
On the farthest coasts and islands proclaim it,
say, 'He who scattered Israel is gathering him,
will guard him as a shepherd guarding his flock.'
¹¹For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
rescued him from a hand stronger than his own.
¹²They will come, shouting for joy on the heights of Zion,
thronging towards Yahweh's lavish gifts,
for wheat, new wine and oil, sheep and cattle;
they will be like a well-watered garden,
they will sorrow no more.
¹³The young girl will then take pleasure in the dance,
and young men and old alike;
I shall change their mourning into gladness,
comfort them, give them joy after their troubles;
¹⁴I shall refresh my priests with rich food,
and my people will gorge themselves on my lavish gifts,
Yahweh declares.

The LORD's mercy on Israel. (Jr.31.15-22)

¹⁵Yahweh says this:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamenting and weeping bitterly:
it is Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
¹⁶Yahweh says this:
Stop your lamenting dry your eyes,
for your labour will have a reward, Yahweh declares,
and they will return from the enemy's country.
¹⁷There is hope for your future after all,
Yahweh declares,
your children will return to their homeland.
¹⁸I have indeed heard Ephraim's grieving,
'You flogged me, I took a flogging,
like a young, untrained bull.
Bring me back, let me come back,
for you are Yahweh my God!
¹⁹For, since I turned away, I have repented;
having understood, I beat my breast.
I was deeply ashamed, I blushed,
aware of the disgrace incurred when I was young.'
²⁰Is Ephraim, then, so dear a son to me,
a child so favoured,
that whenever I mention him
I remember him lovingly still?
That is why I yearn for him,
why I must take pity on him,
Yahweh declares.
²¹Set up your signposts,
raise yourself landmarks,
fix your mind on the road,
the way by which you went.
Come home, Virgin of Israel,
come home to these towns of yours.
²²How long will you hesitate, rebellious daughter?
For Yahweh is creating something new on earth:
the Woman sets out to find her Husband again.

The future prosperity of God's people. (Jr.31.23-40)

²³Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this, 'In the country of Judah and in its towns, they will use these words once more, when I bring their captives home:

'Yahweh bless you,
home of saving justice,
holy mountain!'

²⁴'And in this country, Judah and all its towns, the ploughmen and those who wander with their flocks, will live together,
²⁵for I shall give the weary all they need and satisfy all those whose strength has gone.'

²⁶At this, I awoke and saw
that my sleep had been sweet to me.

²⁷'Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall sow the House of Israel and the House of Judah with the seed both of people and of cattle. ²⁸And as I once watched over them to uproot, to knock down, to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so now I shall watch over them to build and to plant, Yahweh declares. ²⁹'In those days people will no longer say:

'The fathers have eaten unripe grapes;
the children's teeth are set on edge.'

³⁰But each will die for his own guilt. Everyone who eats unripe grapes will have his own teeth set on edge.
³¹'Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), ³²but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, even though I was their Master, Yahweh declares. ³³No, this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel when those days have come, Yahweh declares. Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I shall be their God and they will be my people. ³⁴There will be no further need for everyone to teach neighbour or brother, saying, 'Learn to know Yahweh!' No, they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, Yahweh declares, since I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind.'

³⁵Yahweh who provides the sun to shine by day,
who regulates moon and stars to shine by night,
who stirs the sea, making its waves roar,
he whose name is Yahweh Sabaoth, says this,
³⁶'Were this established order ever to pass away
before me, Yahweh declares,
then the race of Israel would also cease
being a nation for ever before me!'
³⁷Yahweh says this,
'Were the heavens above ever to be measured,
the foundations of the earth below ever to be fathomed,
then I too would reject the whole race of Israel
for all that they have done, Yahweh declares.'

³⁸'Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when the City will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹Then once again the measuring line will stretch straight to the Hill of Gareb, turning then to Goah. ⁴⁰And the whole valley, with its corpses and ashes, and all the ground beside the ravine of the Kidron as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, eastwards, will be consecrated to Yahweh. It will never be destroyed or demolished again.

Jeremiah buys a field. (Jr.32.1-15)

32¹The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ²The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the Court of the Guard in the king of Judah's palace, ³where Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, 'Why do you keep prophesying like this, 'Yahweh says this: I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will capture it; ⁴and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the clutches of the Chaldaeans, but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, speak to him personally and see him face to face. ⁵He will take Zedekiah away to Babylon and there he will stay (until I attend to him, Yahweh declares. If you fight the Chaldaeans you will not succeed!)' ' ⁶Jeremiah said, 'The word of Yahweh has been addressed to me as follows, ⁷'Look, Hanamel the son of your uncle Shallum will come to you and say: Buy my field at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to purchase it.' ⁸And, as Yahweh had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me, in the Court of the Guard and said, 'Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, for you have the right of inheritance and right of redemption; buy it.' I knew then that this was Yahweh's order. ⁹Accordingly, I bought the field from my cousin Hanamel of Anathoth and weighed him out the money: seventeen silver shekels. ¹⁰I drew up the deeds and sealed it, called in witnesses and weighed out the money on the scales. ¹¹I then took both the sealed deed of purchase (with its stipulations and clauses) and its open copy ¹²and handed over the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and of all the Judaeans who then happened to be in the Court of the Guard. ¹³In their presence I gave Baruch this order, ¹⁴'Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Take these deeds, the sealed deed of purchase and its open copy, and put them in an earthenware pot, so that they may be preserved for a long time. ¹⁵For Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this country.'

Jeremiah's prayer. (Jr.32.16-35)

¹⁶'After I had entrusted the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh as follows, ¹⁷'Ah, Lord Yahweh, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. To you nothing is impossible. ¹⁸You show faithful love to thousands but repay the fathers' guilt in full to their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is Yahweh Sabaoth, ¹⁹great in purpose, mighty in deed, whose eyes are open on all human ways, rewarding every individual as that person's ways and actions deserve! ²⁰You performed signs and wonders in Egypt, as you still do in Israel and among humanity today. You have won the name for yourself which is yours today. ²¹You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with mighty hand and outstretched arm and fearsome terror. ²²Then you gave them this country which you had promised on oath to their ancestors, a country flowing with milk and honey. ²³They then entered it, taking possession of it, but they would not listen to your voice nor follow your Law: they would do nothing you ordered them to do; and so you made this total disaster befall them. ²⁴Look! The earthworks are already in place to take the city and, by means of sword, famine and plague, the city is now within the clutches of the Chaldaeans attacking it. What you said has now come true, as you see. ²⁵Yet you yourself, Lord Yahweh, told me: Buy the field, pay for it, have it witnessed although the city is already in the Chaldaeans' clutches.' ' ²⁶The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, ²⁷'Look, I am Yahweh, God of all humanity. Is anything impossible to me? ²⁸'So, Yahweh says this, 'I shall hand this city over to the Chaldaeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it; ²⁹the Chaldaeans attacking this city will enter it, fire it and burn it to the ground, with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and libations poured to other gods, to provoke my anger. ³⁰For the people of Israel and Judah alike have done nothing but what displeases me since they were young. (The people of Israel in fact have done nothing but provoke my anger by their actions, Yahweh declares.) ³¹Yes, from the day when this city was built until today, it has been such cause of anger and wrath to me that I mean to remove it from my sight, ³²on account of all the wickedness the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done to provoke my anger; they, their kings, their chief men, their priests, their prophets, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³They turned to me their backs, never their faces; and though I taught them so urgently, so untiringly, they would not listen and accept correction. ³⁴Instead, they set up their Horrors in the Temple that bears my name to defile it, ³⁵and built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters alive in honour of Molech: a thing I have never ordered, that had never entered my thoughts—that they would cause Judah to sin by anything so loathsome! ³⁶'So now, this is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says about this city of which you now say: By means of sword, famine and plague, it is already within the king of Babylon's clutches: ³⁷Look, I shall gather them in from all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, my fury and great wrath. I shall bring them back to this place and make them live in safety. ³⁸Then they will be my people, and I shall be their God. ³⁹I shall give them singleness of heart and singleness of conduct so that they will always fear me, for their own good and that of their children after them. ⁴⁰I shall make an everlasting covenant with them, never to cease in my efforts for their welfare, and I shall put respect for me in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from me again. ⁴¹My joy will lie in them and in doing them good, and I shall plant them firmly in this country, with all my heart and soul. ⁴²For Yahweh says this: Just as I have brought this complete and total disaster on this people, so I shall bring them all the good things I have promised them. ⁴³Fields will again be bought in this country of which you now say: It is a wasteland without human or animal, already in the clutches of the Chaldaeans. ⁴⁴People will buy fields, pay money, draw up deeds, seal them and have them witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the districts round Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, of the highlands, of the lowlands and of the Negeb. For I shall bring back their captives, Yahweh declares.' '

Another promise of hope. (Jr.33.1-26)

33¹Jeremiah was still confined to the Court of the Guard when the word of Yahweh came to him a second time, as follows, ²'Yahweh who made the earth, who formed it and set it firm—Yahweh is his name—says this, ³'Call to me and I will answer you; I will tell you great secrets of which you know nothing. ⁴For this is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah which are about to be destroyed by means of the earthworks and the sword; ⁵about those now fighting the Chaldaeans, only to fill the city with corpses, those whom I have slaughtered in my furious anger, those whose wickedness has made me hide my face from this city: ⁶Look, I shall bring them remedy and cure; I shall cure them and reveal a new order of peace and loyalty to them. ⁷I shall bring back the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel and shall rebuild them as before. ⁸I shall cleanse them of all their guilt, by which they have offended me, I shall forgive all their guilty actions, by which they have offended me and rebelled against me. ⁹And, for me, Jerusalem will become a name of joy and praise and pride for all the nations on earth to see; when they hear of all the prosperity that I shall give, they will be seized with fear and trembling at all the prosperity and the peace that I provide for it.' ¹⁰'Yahweh says this, 'In this place of which you now say: It is a ruin, without human or animal, in the towns of Judah and desolate streets of Jerusalem where there is neither human nor animal, once more will be heard ¹¹shouts of rejoicing and mirth, the voices of bridegroom and bride, and the singing of those who bring thanksgiving sacrifices to the Temple of Yahweh: Give thanks to Yahweh Sabaoth, for Yahweh is good, for his faithful love is everlasting. For I shall bring back the country's captives, as before, Yahweh says.' ¹²'Yahweh Sabaoth says this, 'In this ruinous place, without human or animal, in all its towns, once again there will be pastures for the shepherds to rest their flocks. ¹³In the towns of the highlands, of the lowlands and the Negeb, in the territory of Benjamin, in the districts round Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, once again the flocks shall pass under the hand of someone who counts them, Yahweh says. ¹⁴'Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall fulfil the promise of happiness I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:

¹⁵In those days and at that time,
I shall make an upright Branch grow for David,
who will do what is just and upright in the country.
¹⁶In those days Judah will triumph
and Israel live in safety.
And this is the name the city will be called:
Yahweh-is-our-Saving-Justice.'

¹⁷'For Yahweh says this, 'David will never lack a male descendant to occupy the throne of the House of Israel, ¹⁸nor will the levitical priests ever lack male descendants to stand before me and offer the burnt offering, to burn the cereal offering and offer sacrifice every day.' ' ¹⁹The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah as follows, ²⁰'Yahweh says this, 'If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that day and night do not come at their due time, ²¹then my covenant with David my servant might also be broken and he would have no son to reign on his throne, and so also might my covenant with the levitical priests, who are my ministers. ²²As surely as the array of heaven cannot be counted, nor the sand of the sea be measured, so surely shall I increase the heirs of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.' ' ²³The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah as follows, ²⁴'Have you not noticed what these people say, 'The two families which Yahweh chose he has now rejected'? So they despise my people, whom they no longer think of as a nation. ²⁵Yahweh says this, 'If I have not created day and night and fixed the laws governing heaven and earth, ²⁶why, then I shall reject the descendants of Jacob and of David my servant and cease to choose rulers from his descendants for the heirs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! For I shall bring back their captives and take pity on them.' '