Jeremiah 33
Expanded Bible
The Promise of the Lord
33 While Jeremiah was still ·locked up [confined; imprisoned] in the courtyard of the guards, the Lord spoke his word to him a second time: 2 “These are the words of the Lord, who made it [C the earth; Gen. 1], ·shaped [formed; C like a potter] it, and ·gave it order [established it], whose name is the Lord: 3 ‘Pray [L Call] to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you ·important secrets [L great and hidden things] you have never ·heard [L known] before.’ 4 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city [C Jerusalem] and the ·royal palaces [L houses of the king] of Judah that have been torn down ·to be used in defense of the attack by the Babylonian army [L against the siege ramps and against the sword]: 5 ‘Some people will come to fight against the ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans]. They will fill them [C the houses] with ·the bodies of people [corpses] I ·killed [struck] in my ·hot anger [L anger and my wrath]. I have ·turned away [L hidden my face] from this city because of all the evil its people have done.
6 “‘But then I will bring ·health [recovery] and healing to the people there. I will heal them and ·let them enjoy [L reveal to them] ·great [an abundance of] peace and ·safety [security]. 7 I will ·bring Judah and Israel back from captivity [restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel] and ·make them strong countries [L rebuild them] as in the past. 8 They sinned against me, but I will ·wash away [cleanse them from] that sin. They did ·evil [iniquity] and ·turned away from [transgressed against] me, but I will forgive them. 9 Then it [C Jerusalem] will be to me a name that brings joy! And people from all nations of the earth will praise [L and glorify] it when they hear about the good things I am doing there. They will ·be surprised [fear] and ·shocked [tremble] at all the good things and the ·peace [or prosperity] I will bring to it.’
10 “You are saying, ‘Our country is an ·empty desert [ruin], without people or animals.’ But this is what the Lord says: It is now quiet in the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, without people or animals, but ·it will be noisy there soon [L there will once more be heard…]! 11 ·There will be [L …the] sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms. There will be the sounds of people bringing to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord their offerings of thanks to the Lord. They will say,
‘Praise the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
because the Lord is good!
His ·love [loyalty] continues forever!’
They will say this because I will ·again do good things for Judah [restore the fortunes of the land], as I did in the beginning,” says the Lord.
12 This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says: “This place is ·empty [a ruin] now, without people or animals. But there will be shepherds in this place [C Judah] and pastures where they let their flocks rest. 13 ·Shepherds will again count their sheep as the sheep walk in front of them [L Flocks will again pass under the hand of those who count them]. They will count them in the mountains and in the ·western hills [L Shephelah], in ·southern Judah [L the Negev] and the land of Benjamin, and around Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah!” says the Lord.
The Good Branch
14 The Lord says, “The ·time is [L days are] coming when I will do the good thing I promised to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 In those days and at that time,
I will make a ·good [righteous] branch sprout from David’s family [Is. 11:1; Zech. 3:8; 6:12].
He will do ·what is fair [justice] and ·right [righteousness] in the land.
16 ·At that time [L In those days] Judah will be ·saved [rescued],
and the people of Jerusalem will live ·in safety [with confidence].
·The branch will be named [L This one will be called by this]:
The Lord ·Does What Is Right [Our Righteousness].”
17 This is what the Lord says: “·Someone from David’s family will always sit on the throne of the family [L David will never lack a man who will sit on the throne of the house] of Israel [2 Sam. 7:11–16]. 18 And there will always be priests from the family of Levi. They will always stand before me to offer burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1] and sacrifices to me [Num. 25:13].”
19 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: 20 “This is what the Lord says: I have an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with day and night that they will always come at the right times [C the covenant with Noah; Gen. 9:8–17]. If you could ·change [L break] that ·agreement [covenant; treaty], 21 only then could you ·change [L break] my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with David and Levi. Only then would my servant David not have a descendant ruling on his throne. And only then would the family of Levi not be serving me [C in the Temple]. 22 But I will give many ·descendants [L seed] to my servant David and to the family group of Levi who serve me. They will be as many as the stars in the sky that no one can count. They will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore that no one can measure [Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4].”
23 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: 24 “Have you [C Jeremiah] heard what the people are saying? They say: ‘The Lord ·turned away from [rejected] the two ·families [kingdoms; C of Israel and Judah] that he chose.’ Now they [L hold my people in such contempt that they] don’t think of them as a nation anymore!”
25 This is what the Lord says: “If I had not made my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with day and night [v. 20], and if I had not made the ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] for the ·sky [heavens] and earth, 26 only then would I ·turn away from [reject] Jacob’s ·descendants [L seed]. And only then would I not let the ·descendants [L seed] of David my servant rule over the ·descendants [L seed] of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will be ·kind [compassionate] to them and ·cause good things to happen to them [restore their fortunes] again.”
Jeremiah 33
Amplified Bible
Restoration Promised
33 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is His name, 3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’ 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 are torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword,(A) 5 ‘While they (the besieged Jews) are coming to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, for I have hidden My face [in disgust] from this city because of all their wickedness. 6 Behold, [in the restored Jerusalem] I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace (prosperity, security, stability) and truth. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all their wickedness (guilt) by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon (forgive) all their sins by which they rebelled against Me. 9 Jerusalem will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for it, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace (prosperity, security, stability) that I provide for it.’
10 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place of which you say, “It is a [desolate] waste, without man and without animal”—even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal— 11 the [sound of the] voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the [song-filled] voice of those who say,
“Give praise and thanks to the Lord of hosts,
For the Lord is good;
For His [steadfast] lovingkindness (mercy) endures forever”;
and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the Lord.
12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘There will again be in this desolate place—[a place] without man or animal—and in all its cities, pastures for shepherds who rest their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South (the Negev), in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord.
The Davidic Kingdom
14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word and promise which I have made regarding the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He (the Messiah) shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.(B) 16 In those days Judah will be saved and [the people of] Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord Our Righteousness (Justice).’ 17 For thus says the Lord, ‘David shall never lack a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man (descendant) to offer burnt offerings before Me and to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices all day long.’”
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not take place at their appointed times, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and [My covenant may also be broken] with the Levitical priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of [the stars of] heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”
23 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families [Israel the northern kingdom, and Judah the southern kingdom] which the Lord chose, He has rejected’? Thus they despise My [chosen] people, no longer are they [considered] as a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant with day and night does not stand, and if I have not established the fixed patterns of heaven and earth, [the whole order of nature,] 26 then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.’”(C)
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