Chapter 29

Message to the Exiles

1 Now these are the words of the aletter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 (This was after King aJeconiah and the bqueen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)

3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of aHilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have asent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

5 ‘aBuild houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their 1produce.

6 ‘Take awives and 1become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.

7 ‘aSeek the 1welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and bpray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its 1welfare you will have 1welfare.’

8 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your aprophets who are in your midst and your diviners bdeceive you, and do not listen to 1cthe dreams which 2they dream.

9 ‘For they aprophesy falsely to you in My name; bI have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When aseventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My bgood word to you, to bring you back to this place.

11 ‘For I know the aplans that I 1have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for bwelfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a chope.

12 ‘Then you will acall upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will blisten to you.

13 ‘You will aseek Me and find Me when you bsearch for Me with all your heart.

14 ‘I will be afound by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will brestore your 1fortunes and will cgather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will dbring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up aprophets for us in Babylon’—

16 for thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did anot go with you into exile—

17 thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the asword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like bsplit-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

18 ‘I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will amake them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a bcurse and a horror and a chissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,

19 because they have anot listened to My words,’ declares the Lord, ‘which I sent to them again and again by bMy servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the Lord.

20 “You, therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles, whom I have asent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are aprophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes.

22 ‘Because of them a acurse will be 1used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon broasted in the fire,

23 because they have aacted foolishly in Israel, and bhave committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have cspoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who dknows and am a witness,” declares the Lord.’ ”

24 To aShemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,

25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent aletters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to bZephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the 1aoverseer in the house of the Lord over every bmadman who cprophesies, to dput him in the stocks and in the iron collar,

27 now then, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of aAnathoth who prophesies to you?

28 “For he has asent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be blong; cbuild houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their 1produce.’ ” ’ ”

29 aZephaniah the priest read this letter 1to Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,

31 “Send to aall the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning bShemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has cprophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has dmade you trust in a lie,”

32 therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to apunish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his 1descendants; he will bnot have anyone living among this people, cand he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has 2dpreached rebellion against the Lord.” ’ ”

Chapter 30

Deliverance from Captivity Promised

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘aWrite all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.

3 ‘For behold, adays are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will brestore the 1fortunes of My people cIsrael and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also dbring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’ ”

4 Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah:

5 “For thus says the Lord,

‘1I have heard a sound of aterror,

Of dread, and there is no peace.

6 ‘Ask now, and see

If a male can give birth.

Why do I see every man

With his hands on his loins, aas a woman in childbirth?

And why have all faces turned pale?

7 ‘Alas! for that aday is great,

There is bnone like it;

And it is the time of Jacob’s cdistress,

But he will be dsaved from it.

8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘that I will abreak his yoke from off 1their neck and will tear off 1their bbonds; and strangers will no longer cmake 2them their slaves.

9 ‘But they shall serve the Lord their God and aDavid their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10 ‘aFear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord,

‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel;

For behold, I will save you bfrom afar

And your 1offspring from the land of their captivity.

And Jacob will return and will be cquiet and at ease,

And dno one will make him afraid.

11 ‘For aI am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you;

For I will bdestroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,

Only I will cnot destroy you completely.

But I will dchasten you justly

And will by no means leave you unpunished.’

12 “For thus says the Lord,

‘Your wound is incurable

And your ainjury is serious.

13 ‘There is no one to plead your cause;

No healing for your sore,

aNo recovery for you.

14 ‘All your alovers have forgotten you,

They do not seek you;

For I have bwounded you with the wound of an enemy,

With the cpunishment of a dcruel one,

Because your einiquity is great

And your fsins are numerous.

15 ‘Why do you cry out over your injury?

Your pain is incurable.

Because your iniquity is great

And your sins are numerous,

I have done these things to you.

16 ‘Therefore all who adevour you will be devoured;

And all your adversaries, every one of them, bwill go into captivity;

And those who plunder you will be for plunder,

And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.

17 ‘For I will 1restore you to 2ahealth

And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord,

‘Because they have called you an boutcast, saying:

“It is Zion; no one 3cares for her.” ’

Restoration of Jacob

18 “Thus says the Lord,

‘Behold, I will arestore the 1fortunes of the tents of Jacob

And bhave compassion on his dwelling places;

And the ccity will be rebuilt on its ruin,

And the dpalace will stand on its rightful place.

19 ‘From them will proceed athanksgiving

And the voice of those who 1bcelebrate;

And I will cmultiply them and they will not be diminished;

I will also dhonor them and they will not be insignificant.

20 ‘1Their children also will be as formerly,

And 2their congregation shall be aestablished before Me;

And I will punish all 2their oppressors.

21 ‘1Their aleader shall be one of them,

And 1their ruler shall come forth from 1their midst;

And I will bbring him near and he shall approach Me;

For 2who would dare to risk his life to capproach Me?’ declares the Lord.

22 ‘You shall be aMy people,

And I will be your God.’ ”

23 Behold, the atempest of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

A 1sweeping tempest;

It will burst on the head of the wicked.

24 The afierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

Until He has performed and until He has accomplished

The intent of His heart;

In the blatter days you will understand this.

Chapter 31

Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy

1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the aGod of all the bfamilies of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

2 Thus says the Lord,

“The people who survived the sword

aFound grace in the wilderness—

Israel, when it went to bfind its rest.”

3 The Lord appeared to 1him from afar, saying,

“I have aloved you with an everlasting love;

Therefore I have drawn you with blovingkindness.

4 “aAgain I will build you and you will be rebuilt,

O virgin of Israel!

Again you will 1take up your btambourines,

And go forth to the dances of the cmerrymakers.

5 “Again you will aplant vineyards

On the 1hills of Samaria;

The planters will plant

And will 2enjoy them.

6 “For there will be a day when watchmen

On the hills of Ephraim call out,

‘Arise, and alet us go up to Zion,

To the Lord our God.’ ”

7 For thus says the Lord,

“aSing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

And shout among the 1bchief of the nations;

Proclaim, give praise and say,

‘O Lord, csave Your people,

The dremnant of Israel.’

8 “Behold, I am abringing them from the north country,

And I will bgather them from the remote parts of the earth,

Among them the cblind and the dlame,

The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;

A great 1company, they will return here.

9 “aWith weeping they will come,

And by supplication I will lead them;

I will make them walk by bstreams of waters,

On a straight path in which they will cnot stumble;

For I am a dfather to Israel,

And Ephraim is eMy firstborn.”

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

And declare in the acoastlands afar off,

And say, “He who scattered Israel will bgather him

And keep him as a cshepherd keeps his flock.”

11 For the Lord has aransomed Jacob

And redeemed him from the hand of him who was bstronger than he.

12 “They will acome and shout for joy on the bheight of Zion,

And they will be cradiant over the 1bounty of the Lord—

Over the dgrain and the new wine and the oil,

And over the young of the eflock and the herd;

And their life will be like a fwatered garden,

And they will gnever languish again.

13 “Then the virgin will rejoice in the adance,

And the young men and the old, together,

For I will bturn their mourning into joy

And will comfort them and give them cjoy for their sorrow.

14 “I will 1fill the soul of the priests with 2abundance,

And My people will be asatisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

15 Thus says the Lord,

“aA voice is heard in bRamah,

Lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

She crefuses to be comforted for her children,

Because dthey are no more.”

16 Thus says the Lord,

“aRestrain your voice from weeping

And your eyes from tears;

For your bwork will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,

“And they will creturn from the land of the enemy.

17 “There is ahope for your future,” declares the Lord,

“And your children will return to their own territory.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim agrieving,

‘You have bchastised me, and I was chastised,

Like an untrained ccalf;

dBring me back that I may be restored,

For You are the Lord my God.

19 ‘For after I turned back, I arepented;

And after I was instructed, I bsmote on my thigh;

I was cashamed and also humiliated

Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 “Is aEphraim My dear son?

Is he a delightful child?

Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,

I certainly still remember him;

Therefore My 1bheart yearns for him;

I will surely chave mercy on him,” declares the Lord.

21 “Set up for yourself roadmarks,

Place for yourself guideposts;

aDirect your 1mind to the highway,

The way by which you went.

bReturn, O virgin of Israel,

Return to these your cities.

22 “How long will you go here and there,

O afaithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—

A woman will encompass a man.”

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I arestore their 1fortunes,

‘The Lord bless you, O babode of righteousness,

O choly hill!’

24 “Judah and all its cities will adwell together in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks.

25 “aFor I satisfy the weary ones and 1refresh everyone who languishes.”

26 At this I aawoke and looked, and my bsleep was pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will asow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

28 “As I have awatched over them to bpluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to cbuild and to plant,” declares the Lord.

29 “In those days they will not say again,

‘aThe fathers have eaten sour grapes,

And the children’s teeth are 1set on edge.’

30 “But aeveryone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be 1set on edge.

31 “aBehold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a bnew covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

32 not like the acovenant which I made with their fathers in the day I btook them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ccovenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

33 “But athis is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “bI will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and cI will be their God, and they shall be My people.

34 “They will anot teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all bknow Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will cforgive their iniquity, and their dsin I will remember no more.”

35 Thus says the Lord,

Who agives the sun for light by day

And the 1fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

Who bstirs up the sea so that its waves roar;

cThe Lord of hosts is His name:

36 “aIf 1this fixed order departs

From before Me,” declares the Lord,

“Then the offspring of Israel also will bcease

From being a nation before Me 2forever.”

37 Thus says the Lord,

“aIf the heavens above can be measured

And the foundations of the earth searched out below,

Then I will also bcast off all the offspring of Israel

For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the acity will be rebuilt for the Lord from the bTower of Hananel to the cCorner Gate.

39 “The ameasuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

40 “And athe whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook bKidron, to the corner of the cHorse Gate toward the east, shall be dholy to the Lord; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

Chapter 32

Jeremiah Imprisoned

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the atenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the acourt of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah,

3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had ashut him up, saying, “Why do you bprophesy, saying, ‘cThus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to dgive this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will anot escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will bspeak with him 1face to face and see him eye to eye;

5 and he will atake Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will bnot succeed” ’?”

6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at aAnathoth, for you have the bright of redemption to buy it.” ’

8 “Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the acourt of the guard according to the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at bAnathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the cword of the Lord.

9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I aweighed out the silver for him, seventeen bshekels of silver.

10 “I 1asigned and bsealed the deed, and ccalled in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

11 “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the aterms and conditions and the open copy;

12 and I gave the deed of purchase to aBaruch the son of bNeriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.

13 “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,

14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may 1last a long time.”

15 ‘For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “aHouses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” ’

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I aprayed to the Lord, saying,

17 ‘aAh Lord 1God! Behold, You have bmade the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! cNothing is too difficult for You,

18 who ashows lovingkindness to thousands, but brepays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O cgreat and dmighty God. The eLord of hosts is His name;

19 agreat in counsel and mighty in deed, whose beyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, cgiving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

20 who has aset signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have bmade a name for Yourself, as at this day.

21 ‘You abrought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror;

22 and gave them this land, which You aswore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 ‘They acame in and took possession of it, but they bdid not obey Your voice or cwalk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made dall this calamity come upon them.

24 ‘Behold, the asiege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is bgiven into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the csword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has dcome to pass; and behold, You see it.

25 ‘You have said to me, O Lord 1God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”

26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the aGod of all flesh; is anything btoo difficult for Me?”

28 Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to agive this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.

29 “The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and aset this city on fire and burn it, with the bhouses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.

30 “Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only aevil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only bprovoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the Lord.

31 “Indeed this city has been to Me a aprovocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be bremoved from before My face,

32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their akings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

33 “They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, 1ateaching again and again, they would not listen 2and receive instruction.

34 “But they aput their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.

35 “They built the ahigh places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to bMolech, which I had not commanded them nor had it 1entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is agiven into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.’

37 “Behold, I will agather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and bmake them dwell in safety.

38 “They shall be aMy people, and I will be their God;

39 and I will agive them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own bgood and for the good of their children after them.

40 “I will make an aeverlasting covenant with them that I will bnot turn away from them, to do them good; and I will cput the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.

41 “I will arejoice over them to do them good and will 1faithfully bplant them in this land with call My heart and with all My soul.

42 “For thus says the Lord, ‘aJust as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bbring on them all the good that I am promising them.

43 ‘aFields will be bought in this land of which you say, “bIt is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”

44 ‘Men will buy fields for money, 1asign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the bland of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the 2Negev; for I will crestore their 3fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”