1 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard:
2 "Thus says the LORD who does it, the LORD who forms it so as to establish it, the LORD is his name:
3 Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great things and hidden things you have not known.
4 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, about the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah which are torn down for use against the siege ramps and against the sword:
5 They are coming to fight the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have struck in my anger and my wrath, since I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.
6 See, I will bring up for it new flesh and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.
7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and build them as at the first.
8 I will purify them from all their iniquity with which they sinned against me, and pardon all their iniquities with which they sinned against me and rebelled against me.
9 It will be for me a name of joy, a praise and an adornment before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I am doing for them; and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace I am doing for it.
10 "Thus says the LORD: Once more there will be heard in this place, of which you say, 'It is a ruin, without man and without beast,' in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are laid waste, without man, without inhabitant, without beast,
11 the sound of rejoicing and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, 'Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!' as they bring thanksgiving into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at the first, says the LORD.
12 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Again there will be in this place, which is a ruin without man or beast, and in all its towns, a pasture for shepherds who rest their flocks.
13 In the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the lowland, in the towns of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the surroundings of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.
14 "The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will carry out the good word I have spoken to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15 In those days and at that time I will make a Branch of righteousness spring up for David, and he will practice justice and righteousness in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is what she will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.
17 "For thus says the LORD: There will not be cut off from David a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel,
18 and from the Levitical priests there will not be cut off a man before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to make sacrifices every day."
19 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
20 "Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there is no day and night in their season,
21 then my covenant with David my servant can also be broken, so that he has no son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests, my ministers.
22 As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant and the Levites who serve me."
23 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 "Have you not noticed what this people has said: 'The two clans the LORD chose, he has rejected them'? So they despise my people, as if it were no longer a nation before them.
25 Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth,
26 then I will also reject the seed of Jacob and of David my servant, so as not to take from his seed rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them."