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14 I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.(A)

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Blessing on Israel

36 And you, mortal, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights have become our possession,”(A) therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Because they made you desolate indeed and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and an object of gossip and slander among the people,(B) therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted towns, which have become a source of plunder and an object of derision to the rest of the nations all around;(C) therefore thus says the Lord God: I am speaking in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who, with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my land as their possession, because of its pasture, to plunder it.(D) Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the watercourses and valleys: Thus says the Lord God: I am speaking in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the insults of the nations;(E) therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer insults.

But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they shall soon come home. See now, I am for you; I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown, 10 and I will multiply your population, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the towns shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt,(F) 11 and I will multiply humans and animals upon you. They shall increase and be fruitful, and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.(G) 12 I will lead people upon you—my people Israel—and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance. No longer shall you bereave them of children.

13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, “You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,” 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, says the Lord God, 15 and no longer will I let you hear the insults of the nations; no longer shall you bear the disgrace of the peoples, and no longer shall you cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord God.(H)

The Renewal of Israel

16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 Mortal, when the house of Israel lived on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their conduct in my sight was like the uncleanness of a menstrual period.(I) 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for the idols with which they had defiled it.(J) 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; in accordance with their conduct and their deeds I judged them.(K) 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to go out of his land.”(L) 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.(M)

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.(N) 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations and which you have profaned among them, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes.(O) 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.(P) 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.(Q) 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.(R) 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.(S) 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.(T) 29 I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.(U) 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways and your dealings that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds.(V) 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O house of Israel.(W)

33 Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the towns to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined towns are now inhabited and fortified.”(X) 36 Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.(Y)

37 Thus says the Lord God: I will also let the house of Israel ask me to do this for them: to multiply their people like sheep. 38 Like a consecrated flock, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals, so shall the ruined towns be filled with flocks of people. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(Z)

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For the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors, and they shall take possession of it.(A)

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33 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and so also are the people of Judah; all their captors have held them fast and refuse to let them go.(A) 34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.(B)

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Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.(A)

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Therefore let all who are faithful
    offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress,[a] the rush of mighty waters
    shall not reach them.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 32.6 Cn: Heb at a time of finding only

20 At that time I will bring you home,
    at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes, says the Lord.(A)

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12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.(A)

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14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
    and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.(A)

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Israel’s False Shepherds

34 The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: To the shepherds—thus says the Lord God: Woe, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?(A) You eat the fat; you clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatted calves, but you do not feed the sheep.(B) You have not strengthened the weak; you have not healed the sick; you have not bound up the injured; you have not brought back the strays; you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.(C) So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and scattered they became food for all the wild animals.(D) My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep,(E) therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God: I am against the shepherds, and I will hold them accountable for my sheep and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.(F)

God, the True Shepherd

11 For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will sort them out.(G) 12 As shepherds sort out their flocks when they are among scattered sheep,[a] so I will sort out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.(H) 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.(I) 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.(J) 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.(K)

17 As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats:(L) 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet and drink what you have fouled with your feet?

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged, and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd.(M) 24 And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.(N)

25 I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely.(O) 26 I will make them and the region around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.(P) 27 The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil, and they shall know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them.(Q) 28 They shall no more be plunder for the nations, nor shall the animals of the land devour them; they shall live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid.(R) 29 I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the insults of the nations.(S) 30 They shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture,[b] and I am your God, says the Lord God.(T)

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Footnotes

  1. 34.12 Cn: Heb their scattered sheep
  2. 34.31 Gk OL: Heb pasture, you are people

16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while[a] in the countries where they have gone.(A) 17 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.(B) 18 When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.(C) 19 I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them;[b] I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,(D) 20 so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 11.16 Or a little sanctuary
  2. 11.19 Heb mss Gk Syr Vg: MT you

10 The Lord has brought forth our vindication;
    come, let us declare in Zion
    the work of the Lord our God.(A)

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19 I will restore Israel to its pasture, and it shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead its hunger shall be satisfied.(A) 20 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.(B)

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In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God.(A) They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

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God Will Save Israel

27 But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob,
    and do not be dismayed, O Israel,
for I am going to save you from far away
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and no one shall make him afraid.(A)
28 As for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob,
            says the Lord,
    for I am with you.
I will make an end of all the nations
    among which I have banished you,
    but I will not make an end of you!
I will chastise you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.(B)

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I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and rebuild them as they were at first.(A) I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.(B) And this city[a] shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.(C)

10 Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, “It is a waste without humans or animals,” in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without inhabitants, human or animal, there shall once more be heard 11 the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
    for the Lord is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!”

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.(D)

12 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without humans or animals, and in all its towns there shall again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks.(E) 13 In the towns of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.(F)

The Righteous Branch and the Covenant with David

14 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.(G) 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.(H) 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”(I)

17 For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,(J) 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to make grain offerings, and to make sacrifices for all time.(K)

19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 Thus says the Lord: If any of you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night would not come at their appointed time,(L) 21 only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken, so that he would not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with my ministers the Levites.(M) 22 Just as the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will increase the offspring of my servant David and the Levites who minister to me.(N)

23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 Have you not observed how these people say, “The two families that the Lord chose have been rejected by him,” and how they hold my people in such contempt that they no longer regard them as a nation?(O) 25 Thus says the Lord: Only if I had not established my covenant with day and night and the ordinances of heaven and earth(P) 26 would I reject the offspring of Jacob and of my servant David and not choose any of his descendants as rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy upon them.(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. 33.9 Heb And it

37 See, I am going to gather them from all the lands to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation; I will bring them back to this place, and I will settle them in safety.(A) 38 They shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for all time, for their own good and the good of their children after them.(B) 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them, never to draw back from doing good to them, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.(C)

42 For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good fortune that I now promise them.(D) 43 Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, “It is a desolation, without humans or animals; it has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.” 44 Fields shall be bought for silver, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, for I will restore their fortunes, says the Lord.(E)

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See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north
    and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
    those with child and those in labor together;
    a great company, they shall return here.(A)
With weeping they shall come,
    and with consolations[a] I will lead them back;
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path where they shall not stumble,
for I have become a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is my firstborn.(B)

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
    and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.”(C)
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.(D)
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
    and they shall never languish again.(E)
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.[b]
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.(F)
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
            says the Lord.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 31.9 Gk: Heb supplications
  2. 31.13 Cn: Heb old together

10 But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord,
    and do not be dismayed, O Israel,
for I am going to save you from far away
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and no one shall make him afraid.(A)

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Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pluck them up.(A) I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with their whole heart.(B)

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Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.(A) I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall no longer fear or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.(B)

The Righteous Branch of David

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.(C) In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”(D)

Therefore the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,”(E) but “As the Lord lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he[a] had driven them.” Then they shall live in their own land.

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Footnotes

  1. 23.8 Gk: Heb I

God Will Restore Israel

14 Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,”(A) 15 but “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.(B)

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Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;(A)

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19 I did not speak in secret
    in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    “Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.(A)

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Psalm 126

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,[a]
    we were like those who dream.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 126.1 Or brought back those who returned to Zion