Excellence of the Restored Nation

33 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ^(A)shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord ^(B)who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it ^(C)(the^[a] Lord is His name): ^3 (D)‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and ^[b]mighty things, which you do not know.’

⁴ “For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against ^(E)the siege mounds and the sword: ⁵ ‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to ^(F)fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. ⁶ Behold, ^(G)I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ And ^(H)I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places ^(I)as at the first. ⁸ I will ^(J)cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. ^9 (K)Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall ^(L)fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—^(M)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹ the ^(N)voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

and of those who will bring ^(P)the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.

¹² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Q)‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ^13 (R)In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again ^(S)pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.

^14 (T)‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(U)I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

^[c]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

¹⁷ “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never ^(W)lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ nor shall the ^(X)priests, the Levites, lack a man to ^(Y)offer burnt offerings before Me, to ^[d]kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”

The Permanence of God’s Covenant

¹⁹ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹ then ^(Z)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. ²² As ^(AA)the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I ^(AB)multiply the descendants of David My servant and the ^(AC)Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

²³ Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have ^(AD)despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.

²⁵ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If ^(AE)My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not ^(AF)appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ^26 (AG)then I will ^(AH)cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”

Zedekiah Warned by God

34 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, ^(AI)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, ^(AJ)all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Go and ^(AK)speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, ^(AL)I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ³ And ^(AM)you shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you ^(AN)face^[e] to face, and you shall go to Babylon.’ ” ’ ⁴ Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. ⁵ You shall die in peace; as in ^(AO)the ceremonies of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, ^(AP)so they shall burn incense for you and ^(AQ)lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have pronounced the word, says the Lord.’ ”

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only ^(AR)these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

Treacherous Treatment of Slaves

⁸ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim ^(AS)liberty to them: ^9 (AT)that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—^(AU)that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage. ¹⁰ Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. ¹¹ But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.

¹² Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I made a ^(AV)covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, ¹⁴ “At the end of ^(AW)seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who ^[f]has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. ¹⁵ Then you ^[g]recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you ^(AX)made a covenant before Me ^(AY)in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Then you turned around and ^(AZ)profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. ^(BA)Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord—^(BB)‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to ^(BC)trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when ^(BD)they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it— ¹⁹ the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the ^[h]eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ I will ^(BE)give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their ^(BF)dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. ²¹ And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army ^(BG)which has gone back from you. ^22 (BH)Behold, I will command,’ says the Lord, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it ^(BI)and take it and burn it with fire; and ^(BJ)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”

The Obedient Rechabites

35 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(BK)Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of ^(BL)the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(BM)the keeper of the ^[i]door. ⁵ Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”

⁶ But they said, “We will drink no wine, for ^(BN)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink ^(BO)no wine, you nor your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, ^(BP)that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ ⁸ Thus we have ^(BQ)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us ^(BR)go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.”

¹² Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not ^(BS)receive instruction to ^[j]obey My words?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. ^(BT)But although I have spoken to you, ^(BU)rising early and speaking, you did not ^[k]obey Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My ^(BV)servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ^(BW)‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will ^(BX)dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. ¹⁶ Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their ^(BY)father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; ^(BZ)because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’ ”

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to ^(CA)stand before Me forever.” ’ ”