1 This word came to Yirmeyahu fromAdonai:
2 “This is whatAdonaithe God of Isra’el says: ‘Write all the words I have spoken to you in a scroll.
3 For the day is coming,’ saysAdonai, ‘when I will reverse the exile of my people Isra’el and Y’hudah,’ saysAdonai.‘I will cause them to return to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it.’”
4 These are the wordsAdonaispoke concerning Isra’el and Y’hudah:
5 Here is whatAdonaisays:
“We have heard a cry of terror,
of fear and not of peace.
6 Ask now and see:
can men give birth to children?
Why, then, do I see all the men
with their hands on their stomachs like women in labor,
with every face turned pale?
7 How dreadful that day will be! —
there has never been one like it:
a time of trouble for Ya‘akov,
but out of it he will be saved.
8 “On that day,” saysAdonai-Tzva’ot,
“I will break his yoke from off your neck,
I will snap your chains.
Foreigners will no longer enslave him.
9 Instead, they will serveAdonaitheir God
and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 “So don’t be afraid, Ya‘akov my servant,”
saysAdonai, “or be alarmed, Isra’el;
for I will return you from far away
and your offspring from their country of exile.
Ya‘akov will again be quiet, at rest;
and no one will make him afraid.
11 “For I am with you to save you,” saysAdonai,
“I will finish off all the nations
where I have scattered you.
However, you I will not finish off,
but will discipline only as you deserve;
I will not completely destroy you.”
12 For here is whatAdonaisays:
“Your wound is past healing,
your injury most severe;
13 no one thinks your wound can be bandaged;
you have no medicines that can heal you.
14 All your friends have forgotten you,
they no longer seek you out.
I have struck you down as an enemy would,
punished as a cruel man would,
because of your great wickedness,
because of your many sins.
15 Why cry that your wound and pain are past healing?
I have done these things to you
because of your great wickedness,
because of your many sins.
16 “But all who devour you will be devoured,
all your enemies will go into exile,
those who plunder you will be plundered,
those who pillage you will be pillaged.
17 For I will restore your health,
I will heal you of your wounds,” saysAdonai,
“because they called you an outcast,
Tziyon, with no one who cares about her.”
18 Thus saysAdonai:
“I will return Ya‘akov’s captives to their tents;
I will take pity on his dwellings.
Cities will be rebuilt on their owntels,
with palaces where they’re supposed to be.
19 From them will come thanksgiving
and the sound of people celebrating.
I will increase them; they will not be decreased;
I will honor them; they will not be despised.
20 Their children will be as they used to be,
their community confirmed in my presence;
and I will punish everyone
who oppresses them.
21 Their leader will be one of their own,
their ruler will come from among them.
I will cause him to come close
and let him approach me;
for, otherwise, who would guarantee his heart
enough to approach me?” saysAdonai.
22 “You will be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 Look! The storm ofAdonai,
bursting out in fury,
a sweeping storm, whirling down
upon the heads of the wicked!
24 Adonai’s fierce anger will not abate
till he accomplishes the purpose in his heart.
In theacharit-hayamim,
you will understand.
25 “When that time comes,” saysAdonai,
“I will be God of all the clans of Isra’el,
and they will be my people.”