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Promises of Hope

30 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. The Lord, the God of Israel, said: “Jeremiah, write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days will come when I will bring Israel and Judah back from captivity,” says the Lord. “I will return them to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will own it!” says the Lord.

The Lord spoke this message about the people of Israel and Judah: This is what the Lord said:

“We hear people crying from fear.
    They are afraid; there is no peace.
Ask this question, and consider it:
    A man cannot have a baby.
So why do I see every strong man
    holding his stomach in pain like a woman having a baby?
    Why is everyone’s face turning white like a dead man’s face?
This will be a terrible day!
    There will never be another time like this.
This is a time of great trouble for the people of Jacob,
    but they will be saved from it.”

The Lord All-Powerful says, “At that time
    I will break the yoke from their necks
and tear off the ropes that hold them.
    Foreign people will never again make my people slaves.
They will serve the Lord their God
    and David their king,
    whom I will send to them.

10 “So people of Jacob, my servants, don’t be afraid.
    Israel, don’t be frightened,” says the Lord.
“I will soon save you from that faraway place where you are captives.
    I will save your family from that land.
The people of Jacob will be safe and have peace again;
    there will be no enemy to frighten them.
11 I am with you and will save you,”
    says the Lord.
“I will completely destroy all those nations
    where I scattered you,
    but I will not completely destroy you.
I will punish you fairly,
    but I will still punish you.”

12 This is what the Lord said:

“You people have a wound that cannot be cured;
    your injury will not heal.
13 There is no one to argue your case
    and no cure for your sores.
    So you will not be healed.
14 All those nations who were your friends have forgotten you.
    They don’t care about you.
I have hurt you as an enemy would.
    I punished you very hard,
because your guilt was so great
    and your sins were so many.
15 Why are you crying out about your injury?
    There is no cure for your pain.
I did these things to you because of your great guilt,
    because of your many sins.
16 But all those nations that destroyed you will now be destroyed.
    All your enemies will become captives in other lands.
Those who stole from you will have their own things stolen.
    Those who took things from you in war will have their own things taken.
17 I will bring back your health
    and heal your injuries,” says the Lord,
“because other people forced you away.
    They said about you, ‘No one cares about Jerusalem!’”

18 This is what the Lord said:

“I will soon make the tents of Jacob’s people as they used to be,
    and I will have pity on Israel’s houses.
The city will be rebuilt on its hill of ruins,
    and the king’s palace will stand in its proper place.
19 People in those places will sing songs of praise.
    There will be the sound of laughter.
I will give them many children
    so their number will not be small.
I will bring honor to them
    so no one will look down on them.
20 Their descendants will be as they were in the old days.
    I will set them up as a strong people before me,
and I will punish the nations who have hurt them.
21 One of their own people will lead them;
    their ruler will come from among them.
He will come near to me when I invite him.
    Who would dare to come to me uninvited?” says the Lord.
22 “So you will be my people,
    and I will be your God.”

23 Look! It is a storm from the Lord!
    He is angry and has gone out to punish the people.
Punishment will come like a storm
    crashing down on the evil people.
24 The Lord will stay angry
    until he finishes punishing the people.
He will stay angry
    until he finishes the punishment he planned.
When that day comes,
    you will understand this.

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12 For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.

22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.