The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

23 “^(A)Woe to the shepherds who are ^(B)destroying and scattering the ^(C)sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are ^[a]tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to ^(D)attend to you for the ^(E)evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. ³ “Then I Myself will ^(F)gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will also raise up ^(G)shepherds over them and they will ^[b]tend them; and they will ^(H)not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, ^(I)nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

⁷ “^(Q)Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ^8 (R)but, ‘As the Lord lives, who ^(S)brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

False Prophets Denounced

¹⁵ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets,

²⁵ “I have ^(BD)heard what the prophets have said who ^(BE)prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a ^(BF)dream, I had a dream!’ ²⁶ How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the ^(BG)deception of their own heart, ²⁷ who intend to ^(BH)make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers ^(BI)forgot My name because of Baal? ²⁸ The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has ^(BJ)My word speak My word in truth. ^(BK)What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. ²⁹ “Is not My word like ^(BL)fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a ^(BM)hammer which shatters a rock? ³⁰ Therefore behold, ^(BN)I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ ³² Behold, I am against those who have prophesied ^(BO)false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and ^(BP)reckless boasting; yet ^(BQ)I did not send them or command them, nor do they ^(BR)furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.

³³ “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, ‘What is the ^[g](BS)oracle of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What ^[h]oracle?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will ^(BT)abandon you.’ ³⁴ Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The ^(BU)oracle of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. ³⁵ Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘^(BV)What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶ For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have ^(BW)perverted the words of the ^(BX)living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸ For if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’”’ ³⁹ Therefore behold, ^(BY)I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. ⁴⁰ I will put an everlasting ^(BZ)reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

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.’”