1. Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2. Thus says the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
3. Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.
4. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the siege mounds, and by the sword;
5. They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in my anger and in my fury, and for all their wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
6. Behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them, and will reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
7. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
9. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I bring about for it.
10. Thus says the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
11. The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endures for ever: and of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return, as at the first, says the LORD.
12. Thus says the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counts them, says the LORD.
14. Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up for David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
16. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name with which she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
17. For thus says the LORD; David shall never lack a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
18. Neither shall the priests the Levites lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle food offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19. And 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 should not be day and night in their season;
21. Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
22. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the descendents of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
23. Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24. Do you not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD has chosen, he has even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no longer a nation before them.
25. Thus says the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the orderly arrangements of heaven and earth;
26. Then will I cast away the children of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his descendents to be rulers over the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.