Restoration Promised

33 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still ^[a](A)confined in the court of the guard, saying, ² “Thus says ^(B)the Lord who made ^[b]the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the ^(C)Lord is His name, ³ ‘^(D)Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you ^(E)great and mighty things, ^(F)which you do not know.’ ⁴ For thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the ^(G)houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defense against the ^(H)siege ramps and against the sword, ⁵ ‘While they are coming to ^(I)fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have ^(J)hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: ⁶ Behold, I will bring to it ^(K)health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an ^(L)abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ I will ^(M)restore the ^[c]fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will ^(N)rebuild them as they were at first. ⁸ I will ^(O)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 against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. ^9 [d]It will be to Me a ^(P)name of joy, praise and glory before ^(Q)all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the ^(R)good that I do for them, and they will ^(S)fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a ^(T)waste, without man and without beast,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are ^(U)desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹ the voice of ^(V)joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say,

and of those who bring a ^(X)thank offering into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the ^[e]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 place which is waste, ^(Y)without man or beast, and in all its cities, a ^[f]habitation of shepherds who rest their ^(Z)flocks. ¹³ In the ^(AA)cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again ^(AB)pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.

The Davidic Kingdom

¹⁴ ‘Behold, ^(AC)days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will ^(AD)fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a ^(AE)righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute ^(AF)justice and righteousness on the earth. ¹⁶ In those days ^(AG)Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the ^(AH)Lord is our righteousness.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord, ‘^[g]David shall ^(AI)never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ^18 [h]and the ^(AJ)Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to ^(AK)prepare sacrifices ^[i]continually.’”

¹⁹ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can ^(AL)break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, ²¹ then ^(AM)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. ²² As the ^(AN)host of heaven cannot be counted and the ^(AO)sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will ^(AP)multiply the ^[j]descendants of David My servant and the ^(AQ)Levites who minister to Me.’”

²³ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The ^(AR)two families which the Lord chose, He has ^(AS)rejected them’? Thus they ^(AT)despise My people, no longer are they as a nation ^[k]in their sight. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord, ‘If My ^(AU)covenant for day and night stand not, and the ^[l]fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have ^(AV)not established, ²⁶ then I would ^(AW)reject the ^[m]descendants of Jacob and David My servant, ^[n]not taking from his ^[o]descendants ^(AX)rulers over the ^[p]descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will ^(AY)restore their ^[q]fortunes and will have ^(AZ)mercy on them.’”

Thanksgiving for Faith and Perseverance

1 ^(A)Paul and ^(B)Silvanus and ^(C)Timothy,

To the ^(D)church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ^2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We ought always ^(F)to give thanks to God for you, ^(G)brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the ^(H)love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; ⁴ therefore, we ourselves ^(I)speak proudly of you among ^(J)the churches of God for your ^[a]perseverance and faith ^(K)in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. ⁵ This is a ^(L)plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be ^(M)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. ^6 [b]For after all ^(N)it is only just ^[c]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to give relief to you who are afflicted ^[d]and to us as well ^[e](O)when the Lord Jesus will be revealed ^(P)from heaven ^(Q)with ^[f]His mighty angels ^(R)in flaming fire, ⁸ dealing out retribution to those who ^(S)do not know God and to those who ^(T)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These will pay the penalty of ^(U)eternal destruction, ^(V)away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes to be ^(W)glorified ^[g]in His ^[h]saints on that ^(X)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our ^(Y)testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end also we ^(Z)pray for you always, that our God will ^[i](AA)count you worthy of your ^(AB)calling, and fulfill every desire for ^(AC)goodness and the ^(AD)work of faith with power, ¹² so that the ^(AE)name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.