The Call of Jeremiah

⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^(D)I do not know how to speak, ^(E)for I am only a youth.” ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

^9 (I)Then the Lord put out his hand and ^(J)touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles

29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ^(A)the surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^(B)the priests, ^(C)the prophets, and ^(D)all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² This was after ^(E)King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^(F)Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(G)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ^5 (H)Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(I)pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(J)Do not let your prophets and ^(K)your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{[a] 9} for ^(L)it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^(M)I did not send them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: ^(N)When seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^(O)I will visit you, ^(P)and I will fulfill to you my promise ^(Q)and bring you back to this place. ^11 (R)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[b] and not for evil, ^(S)to give you a future and a hope. ^12 (T)Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^(U)and I will hear you. ^13 (V)You will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^(W)with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^(X)and I will restore your fortunes and ^(Y)gather you from all the nations and all the places ^(Z)where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

The New Covenant

^31 (A)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^(B)a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when ^(C)I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^(D)though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ^33 (E)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^(F)I will put my law within them, and I will write it ^(G)on their hearts. ^(H)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ ^(I)for they shall all know me, ^(J)from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^(K)I will forgive their iniquity, and ^(L)I will remember their sin no more.”

The Lord's Eternal Covenant with David

^14 (A)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(B)I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^(C)Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, ^(D)and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^(E)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’