Jeremiah 33

A second word in confinement

1The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the guard courtyard: 2“The LORD who does it, the LORD who shapes it and establishes it, whose name is the LORD, says: 3Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great things beyond your reach, things you do not know.

4For the LORD, the God of Israel, says this about the houses of this city and the royal houses of Judah that have been torn down to face the siege ramps and the sword: 5People come to fight the Chaldeans, but only to fill those houses with the bodies of people I have struck down in my anger and wrath. I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

6Yet I will bring her recovery and healing. I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of peace and faithfulness. 7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and build them up as they were before. 8I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me. I will forgive all the guilt of their sins and their rebellion against me. 9This city will bring me a joyful name, praise, and splendor before all the nations of the earth. They will hear of all the good I do for its people, and they will tremble in fear at all the good and peace I bring it.

Joy and ordinary life restored

10“The LORD says: In this place that you call a waste, without people or animals—in Judah's towns and Jerusalem's streets, desolate, without people, inhabitants, or animals—there will once again be heard 11the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and bride, and the voices of those who say,
‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,
for the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,’
as they bring thanksgiving offerings to the house of the LORD. For I will restore the land's fortunes as they were before, says the LORD.

12“The LORD of hosts says: In this place, now a waste without people or animals, and in all its towns, there will again be pastures where shepherds let their flocks rest. 13In the towns of the hill country, the Shephelah, and the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, around Jerusalem, and in Judah's towns, flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.

David’s Branch and the covenant

14“Look, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days, at that time,
I will make a righteous Branch sprout for David.
He will do what is just and right in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live securely.
This is what she will be called:
‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

17For the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. 18Nor will the Levitical priests ever lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, burn grain offerings, and make sacrifices continually.”

19The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 20“The LORD says: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed times, 21then my covenant with my servant David can also be broken, so that he has no son to reign on his throne—and my covenant with the Levitical priests who serve me. 22As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of my servant David and the Levites who serve me.”

23The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 24“Have you not noticed what this people says: ‘The LORD has rejected the two clans he chose’? They despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation. 25The LORD says: If I had not made my covenant with day and night and established the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26then I would also reject the offspring of Jacob and my servant David, and would not choose rulers from his offspring over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.”