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1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 For look, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will possess it.”
4 These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
5 For this is what the LORD says: “We have heard a cry of terror, of dread and not of peace.
6 Ask and see: Can a male give birth?
Why then do I see every man with his hands on his hips like a woman in labor, and every face turned pale?
7 Alas, that day is great;
there is none like it.
It is a time of distress for Jacob, yet he will be saved out of it.
8 On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your bonds.
Foreigners will no longer enslave him.
9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 But you, my servant Jacob, do not fear, declares the LORD;
do not be dismayed, Israel.
Look, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return and be quiet and at ease, with no one to make him afraid.
11 For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD.
Though I make a complete end of all the nations where I scattered you, I will not make a complete end of you.
I will discipline you with justice, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
12 For this is what the LORD says: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous.
13 No one pleads your case;
for your wound there are no remedies or healing.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you;
they do not seek you.
For I have struck you with the blow of an enemy, with cruel discipline, because your iniquity is great and your sins are many.
15 Why do you cry out over your hurt?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your iniquity is great and your sins are many, I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity.
Those who plunder you will be plundered, and all who loot you I will give over to looting.
17 For I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: ‘This is Zion, for whom no one cares.’
18 This is what the LORD says: Look, I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings.
The city will be rebuilt on its own mound, and the palace will stand in its proper place.
19 From them will come thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing.
I will multiply them, and they will not decrease;
I will honor them, and they will not be insignificant.
20 His children will be as before, and his congregation will be established before me.
I will punish all his oppressors.
21 His prince will be one of his own, and his ruler will come from his midst.
I will bring him near, and he will approach me, for who is this who has pledged his heart to approach me?
declares the LORD.
22 You will be my people, and I will be your God.”
23 Look, the storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, a sweeping storm;
it will whirl upon the heads of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has carried out and fulfilled the purposes of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it.