Jeremiah 33

New King James Version

Excellence of the Restored Nation

33 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ^(A)shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord ^(B)who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it ^(C)(the^[a] Lord is His name): ³^(D)‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and ^[b]mighty things, which you do not know.’

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 have been pulled down to fortify against ^(E)the siege mounds and the sword: ⁵‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to ^(F)fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. ⁶Behold, ^(G)I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷And ^(H)I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places ^(I)as at the first. ⁸I will ^(J)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 and by which they have transgressed against Me. ⁹^(K)Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall ^(L)fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’

¹⁰“Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—^(M)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹the ^(N)voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

^(O)“Praise the Lord of hosts,
For the Lord is good,
For His mercy endures forever”—

and of those who will bring ^(P)the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.

¹²“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Q)‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ¹³^(R)In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again ^(S)pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.

¹⁴^(T)‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(U)I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

¹⁵‘In those days and at that time
I will cause to grow up to David
A ^(V)Branch of righteousness;
He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved,
And Jerusalem will dwell safely.
And this is the name by which she will be called:

^[c]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

¹⁷“For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never ^(W)lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸nor shall the ^(X)priests, the Levites, lack a man to ^(Y)offer burnt offerings before Me, to ^[d]kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”

The Permanence of God’s Covenant

¹⁹And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰“Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹then ^(Z)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. ²²As ^(AA)the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I ^(AB)multiply the descendants of David My servant and the ^(AC)Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

²³Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴“Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have ^(AD)despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.

²⁵“Thus says the Lord: ‘If ^(AE)My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not ^(AF)appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ²⁶^(AG)then I will ^(AH)cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 33:2 Heb. YHWH
Jeremiah 33:3 inaccessible
Jeremiah 33:16 Heb. YHWH Tsidkenu; cf. Jer. 23:5, 6
Jeremiah 33:18 burn

Jeremiah 2-3

New King James Version

God’s Case Against Israel

2 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“I remember you,
The kindness of your ^(A)youth,
The love of your betrothal,
^(B)When you ^[a]went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.
³^(C)Israel was holiness to the Lord,
^(D)The firstfruits of His increase.
^(E)All that devour him will offend;
Disaster will ^(F)come upon them,” says the Lord.’ ”

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says the Lord:

^(G)“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
^(H)Have followed ^[b]idols,
And have become idolaters?
⁶Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord,
Who ^(I)brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through ^(J)the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,
Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no one dwelt?’
⁷I brought you into ^(K)a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you ^(L)defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination.
⁸The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who handle the ^(M)law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me;
^(N)The prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things that do not profit.

⁹“Therefore ^(O)I will yet ^[c]bring charges against you,” says the Lord,
“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.
¹⁰For pass beyond the coasts of ^[d]Cyprus and see,
Send to ^[e]Kedar and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a ^(P)thing.
¹¹^(Q)Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are ^(R)not gods?
^(S)But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
¹²Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
¹³“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the ^(T)fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁴“Is Israel ^(U)a servant?
Is he a homeborn slave?
Why is he plundered?
¹⁵^(V)The young lions roared at him, and growled;
They made his land waste;
His cities are burned, without inhabitant.
¹⁶Also the people of ^[f]Noph and ^(W)Tahpanhes
Have ^[g]broken the crown of your head.
¹⁷^(X)Have you not brought this on yourself,
In that you have forsaken the Lord your God
When ^(Y)He led you in the way?
¹⁸And now why take ^(Z)the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of ^(AA)Sihor?
Or why take the road to ^(AB)Assyria,
To drink the waters of ^[h]the River?
¹⁹Your own wickedness will ^(AC)correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the Lord your God,
And the ^[i]fear of Me is not in you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts.

²⁰“For of old I have ^(AD)broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And ^(AE)you said, ‘I will not ^[j]transgress,’
When ^(AF)on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, ^(AG)playing the harlot.
²¹Yet I had ^(AH)planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into ^(AI)the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
²²For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is ^(AJ)marked^[k] before Me,” says the Lord God.

²³“How^(AK) can you say, ‘I am not ^[l]polluted,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley;
Know what you have done:
You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
²⁴A wild donkey used to the wilderness,
That sniffs at the wind in her desire;
In her time of mating, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves;
In her month they will find her.
²⁵Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ^(AL)‘There is no hope.
No! For I have loved ^(AM)aliens, and after them I will go.’

²⁶“As the thief is ashamed when he is found out,
So is the house of Israel ashamed;
They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their ^(AN)prophets,
²⁷Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a ^(AO)stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.
But in the time of their ^(AP)trouble
They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’
²⁸But ^(AQ)where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they ^(AR)can save you in the time of your ^[m]trouble;
For ^(AS)according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹“Why will you plead with Me?
You all have transgressed against Me,” says the Lord.
³⁰“In vain I have ^(AT)chastened your children;
They ^(AU)received no correction.
Your sword has ^(AV)devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.

³¹“O generation, see the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We ^[n]are lords;
^(AW)We will come no more to You’?
³²Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people ^(AX)have forgotten Me days without number.

³³“Why do you beautify your way to seek love?
Therefore you have also taught
The wicked women your ways.
³⁴Also on your skirts is found
^(AY)The blood of the lives of the poor innocents.
I have not found it by ^[o]secret search,
But plainly on all these things.
³⁵^(AZ)Yet you say, ‘Because I am innocent,
Surely His anger shall turn from me.’
Behold, ^(BA)I will plead My case against you,
^(BB)Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
³⁶^(BC)Why do you gad about so much to change your way?
Also ^(BD)you shall be ashamed of Egypt ^(BE)as you were ashamed of Assyria.
³⁷Indeed you will go forth from him
With your hands on ^(BF)your head;
For the Lord has rejected your trusted allies,
And you will ^(BG)not prosper by them.

Israel Is Shameless

3 “They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man’s,
^(BH)May he return to her again?’
Would not that ^(BI)land be greatly polluted?
But you have ^(BJ)played the harlot with many lovers;
^(BK)Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.

²“Lift up your eyes to ^(BL)the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not ^[p]lain with men?
^(BM)By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
^(BN)And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.
³Therefore the ^(BO)showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a ^(BP)harlot’s forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.
⁴Will you not from this time cry to Me,
‘My Father, You are ^(BQ)the guide of ^(BR)my youth?
⁵^(BS)Will He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able.”

A Call to Repentance

⁶The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what ^(BT)backsliding Israel has done? She has ^(BU)gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. ⁷^(BV)And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous ^(BW)sister Judah saw it. ⁸Then I saw that ^(BX)for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had ^(BY)put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; ^(BZ)yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she ^(CA)defiled the land and committed adultery with ^(CB)stones and trees. ¹⁰And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me ^(CC)with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.

¹¹Then the Lord said to me, ^(CD)“Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. ¹²Go and proclaim these words toward ^(CE)the north, and say:

‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am ^(CF)merciful,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not remain angry forever.
¹³^(CG)Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God,
And have ^(CH)scattered your ^[q]charms
To ^(CI)alien deities ^(CJ)under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.

¹⁴“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; ^(CK)“for I am married to you. I will take you, ^(CL)one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to ^(CM)Zion. ¹⁵And I will give you ^(CN)shepherds according to My heart, who will ^(CO)feed you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶“Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and ^(CP)increased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ ^(CQ)It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.

¹⁷“At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, ^(CR)to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they ^(CS)follow^[r] the dictates of their evil hearts.

¹⁸“In those days ^(CT)the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of ^(CU)the north to ^(CV)the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

¹⁹“But I said:

‘How can I put you among the children
And give you ^(CW)a pleasant land,
A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’

“And I said:

‘You shall call Me, ^(CX)“My Father,”
And not turn away from Me.’
²⁰Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her ^[s]husband,
So ^(CY)have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.

²¹A voice was heard on ^(CZ)the desolate heights,
Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
For they have perverted their way;
They have forgotten the Lord their God.

²²“Return, you backsliding children,
And I will ^(DA)heal your backslidings.”

“Indeed we do come to You,
For You are the Lord our God.
²³^(DB)Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
^(DC)Truly, in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
²⁴^(DD)For shame has devoured
The labor of our fathers from our youth—
Their flocks and their herds,
Their sons and their daughters.
²⁵We lie down in our shame,
And our ^[t]reproach covers us.
^(DE)For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
We and our fathers,
From our youth even to this day,
And ^(DF)have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”