1And the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 2"Thus says the LORD, the Maker of the earth, the LORD who formed it in order to establish it; the LORD is His name, 3'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and inscrutable things which you do not know. ' 4For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are torn down to defend against the siege mounds and against the sword: 5'They come to fight against the Chaldeans, yet those houses will be filled with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, and because of all their wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. 6Behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them and will show them the riches of peace and truth. 7And I will cause the return from captivity of Judah and the return from captivity of Israel, and will build them, as at the first. 8And I will 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. 9And it shall be for Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the peace that I bring to it. '

10Thus says the LORD, 'Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say is a waste without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast;

11The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, "Praise the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for His steadfast love endures forever;" and the voice of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land, as at the first,' says the LORD.

12Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Again in this place which is a desert without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall be a home of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who tallies them,' says the LORD.

14'Behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that I will establish the good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up to David. And He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name with which she shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ' 17For thus says the LORD, 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18Nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle grain offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. ? "

19And the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20"Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night at their appointed time, 21Then also My covenant with David My servant may be broken, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and My covenant with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. 22As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me. ? "

23Moreover the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24"Do you not consider what this people are saying, 'The two families which the LORD has chosen, He has even cast them off'? So they have despised My people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25Thus says the LORD, 'If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not given the ordinances of the heavens and the earth, 26Then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will bring them back from their captivity, and have mercy on them. ? "