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The Promise of God
33 While Jeremiah was still locked up in the courtyard of the guards, the message from the Lord came to him a second time: 2 “The Lord made the earth, and he keeps it safe. The Lord is his name. He says, 3 ‘Judah, pray to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you important secrets. You have never heard these things before.’ 4 The Lord is the God of Israel. This is what he says about the houses in Jerusalem and about the palaces of the kings of Judah: ‘The enemy will pull these houses down. They will build ramps up to the top of the city walls. They will use swords and fight the people in these cities.
5 “‘The people in Jerusalem have done many bad things. I am angry with them. I have turned against them, so I will kill many people there. The Babylonian army will come to fight against Jerusalem. There will be many dead bodies in the houses in Jerusalem.
6 “‘But then I will heal the people in that city. I will let them enjoy peace and safety. 7 I will make good things happen to Judah and Israel again and make them strong as in the past. 8 They sinned against me, but I will wash away that sin. They fought against me, but I will forgive them. 9 Then Jerusalem will be a wonderful place. The people will be happy. People from other nations will praise it when they hear about the good things happening there. They will hear about the good things I am doing for Jerusalem.’
10 “This is what the Lord says: ‘You people say that your country is an empty desert. There are no people or animals living there.’ It is now quiet in the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah. But it will be noisy there soon. 11 There will be sounds of joy and happiness. There will be the happy sounds of a bride and groom. There will be the sounds of people bringing their gifts to the Lord’s Temple. They will say, ‘Praise the Lord All-Powerful! The Lord is good! His faithful love will last forever!’ They will say this because I will again do good things to Judah. It will be as it was in the beginning.” This is what the Lord said.
12 The Lord All-Powerful says, “This place is empty now. There are no people or animals living here. But there will be people in all the towns of Judah. There will be shepherds, and there will be pastures where they will let their flocks rest. 13 Shepherds will count their sheep as the sheep walk in front of them. They will be counting their sheep all around the country—in the hill country, in the western foothills, in the Negev, and in all the other towns of Judah.”
The Good Branch
14 This message is from the Lord: “I made a special promise to the people of Israel and Judah. The time is coming when I will do what I promised. 15 At that time I will make a good ‘branch’ grow from David’s family. That branch will do what is good and right for the country. 16 When he rules, Judah will be saved. The people of Jerusalem will live in safety. This will be his name: ‘The Lord Makes Things Right For Us.’”
17 The Lord says, “Someone from David’s family will always sit on the throne and rule the family of Israel. 18 And there will always be priests from the family of Levi. They will always stand before me and offer burnt offerings and sacrifice grain offerings and give sacrifices to me.”
19 This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. 20 The Lord says, “I have an agreement with day and night. I agreed that they would continue forever. You cannot change that agreement. Day and night will always come at the right time. If you could change that agreement, 21 then you could change my agreement with David and Levi. Then descendants from David would not be the kings, and the family of Levi would not be priests. 22 But I will give many descendants to my servant David and to the tribe of Levi. They will be as many as the stars in the sky—no one can count all the stars. And they will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore—no one can count the grains of sand.”
23 Jeremiah received this message from the Lord: 24 “Jeremiah, have you heard what the people are saying? They are saying, ‘The Lord turned away from the two families of Israel and Judah. He chose those people, but now he does not even accept them as a nation.’”
25 The Lord says, “If my agreement with day and night does not continue, and if I had not made the laws for the sky and earth, maybe I would leave those people. 26 Then maybe I would turn away from Jacob’s descendants. And then maybe I would not let David’s descendants rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But David is my servant, and I will be kind to those people. I will again cause good things to happen to them.”
A Warning to Zedekiah
34 The message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The message came at the time when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the towns around it. Nebuchadnezzar had with him all his army and the armies of all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled.
2 This was the message: “This is what the Lord, the God of the people of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go to King Zedekiah of Judah and give him this message: ‘Zedekiah, this is what the Lord says: I will give the city of Jerusalem to the king of Babylon very soon, and he will burn it down. 3 Zedekiah, you will not escape from the king of Babylon. You will surely be caught and given to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes. He will talk to you face to face, and you will go to Babylon. 4 But listen to the promise of the Lord, King Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the Lord says about you: You will not be killed with a sword. 5 You will die in a peaceful way. People made funeral fires to honor your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you became king. In the same way people will make a funeral fire to honor you. They will cry for you and sadly say, “Oh, my master!” I myself make this promise to you.’” This message is from the Lord.
6 So Jeremiah told all this message to Zedekiah in Jerusalem. 7 This was while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem. The army of Babylon was also fighting against the cities of Judah that had not been captured. These cities were Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in the land of Judah.
The People Break an Agreement
8 King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to give freedom to all the Hebrew slaves. A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah after Zedekiah had made that agreement. 9 Everyone was supposed to free their Hebrew slaves. All male and female Hebrew slaves were to be set free. No one was supposed to keep another person from the tribe of Judah in slavery. 10 So all the leaders of Judah and all the people accepted this agreement. They would free their male and female slaves so that they would no longer serve them. Everyone agreed, and so all the slaves were set free. 11 But after that,[a] the people who had slaves changed their minds. So they took the people they had set free and made them slaves again.
12 Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, where they were slaves. When I did that, I made an agreement with them. 14 I said to your ancestors, “At the end of every seven years, everyone must set their Hebrew slaves free. If you have fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you, you must let them go free after they have served you for six years.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 15 A short time ago you changed your hearts to do what is right. Everyone set free their fellow Hebrews who were slaves. And you even made an agreement before me in the Temple that is called by my name. 16 But now you have changed your minds. You have shown that you do not honor my name because each of you has taken back the male and female slaves that you had set free. You have forced them to become slaves again.’
17 “So this is what the Lord says: ‘You people have not obeyed me. You have not given freedom to your fellow Hebrews. So, because you have not given them freedom, I will give a special kind of freedom—freedom to die in war or by disease or by hunger! This message is from the Lord. When the other nations see what I have done to you, they will all be shocked. 18 I will hand over those who broke my agreement and have not kept the promises they made before me. They cut a calf into two pieces before me and walked between the two pieces.[b] 19 These are the people who walked between the two pieces of the calf when they made the agreement before me: the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the important officials of the court, the priests, and the people of the land. 20 So I will give them to their enemies and to everyone who wants to kill them. Their bodies will become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth. 21 I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and his leaders to their enemies and to everyone who wants to kill them. I will give Zedekiah and his people to the army of the king of Babylon, even though that army has left Jerusalem.[c] 22 But I will give the order,’ says the Lord, ‘to bring the Babylonian army back to Jerusalem. That army will fight against Jerusalem. They will capture it, set it on fire, and burn it down. And I will destroy the towns in the land of Judah. They will become empty deserts. No one will live there.’”
A Warning About False Teachers
4 The Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe. They will obey spirits that tell lies. And they will follow the teachings of demons. 2 Those teachings come through people who tell lies and trick others. These evil people cannot see what is right and what is wrong. It is like their conscience has been destroyed with a hot iron. 3 They say that it is wrong to marry. And they say that there are some foods that people must not eat. But God made these foods, and those who believe and who understand the truth can eat them with thanks. 4 Everything that God made is good. Nothing he made should be refused if it is accepted with thanks to him. 5 Everything he created is made holy by what he has said and by prayer.
Be a Good Servant of Christ Jesus
6 Tell this to the brothers and sisters there. This will show that you are a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will show that you are made strong by the words of faith and good teaching you have followed. 7 People tell silly stories that don’t agree with God’s truth. Don’t follow what these stories teach. But teach yourself to be devoted to God. 8 Training your body helps you in some ways. But devotion to God helps you in every way. It brings you blessings in this life and in the future life too. 9 Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question: 10 We hope in the living God, the Savior of all people. In particular, he is the Savior of all those who believe in him. This is why we work and struggle.
11 Command and teach these things. 12 You are young, but don’t let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by the way you live, by your love, by your faith, and by your pure life.
13 Continue to read the Scriptures to the people, encourage them, and teach them. Do this until I come. 14 Remember to use the gift you have, which was given to you through a prophecy[a] when the group of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Continue to do these things. Give your life to doing them. Then everyone can see that your work is progressing. 16 Be careful in your life and in your teaching. Continue to live and teach rightly. Then you will save yourself and those who listen to your teaching.
A maskil from Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing forever about the Lord’s love.
I will sing about his faithfulness forever and ever!
2 I will say, “Your faithful love will last forever.
Your loyalty is like the sky—there is no end to it!”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with my chosen king.
I made this promise to my servant David:
4 ‘There will always be someone from your family to rule.
I will make your kingdom continue forever and ever.’” Selah
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for the amazing things you do.
The assembly of holy ones sings about your loyalty.
6 No one in heaven is equal to the Lord.
None of the “gods” can compare to the Lord.
7 When God’s holy ones—the angels around his throne—meet together,
they fear and respect him;
he is more awesome than all those around him.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, there is no one like you.
You are strong, Lord, and always faithful.
9 You rule the stormy sea.
You can calm its angry waves.
10 You defeated Rahab.
You scattered your enemies with your own powerful arm.
11 Everything in heaven and earth belongs to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created everything north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing praises to your name.
13 You have the power!
Your power is great!
Victory is yours!
23 Just as wind blowing from the north brings rain, telling secrets brings anger.
24 It is better to live in a small corner of the roof than to share the house with a woman who is always arguing.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International