Chapter 29
1; And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon
2; after Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the eunuchs, the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, had gone out from Jerusalem.
3; He sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchad- nezzar king of Babylon, saying,
4; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have caused to be exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5; Build houses and live, and plant gardens, and eat their fruit.
6; Take wives, and father sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons; and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and do not become few.
7; And seek the peace of the city, there where I have caused you to be exiled. And pray to YAHWEH for it; for in its peace you shall have peace.
8; For so says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your divining ones in your midst deceive you. And do not listen to your dreams which you dream.
9; For they prophesy falsely to you in My name. I have not sent them, says YAHWEH.
10; For so says YAHWEH, When according to My mouth seventy years have been fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you and confirm My good Word to you, to bring you back to this place.
11; For I know the purposes which I am planning for you, says YAHWEH; purposes of peace, and not for evil; to give you a future and a hope.
12; Then you shall call on Me, and you shall go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13; And you shall seek and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14; And I will be found by you, says YAHWEH. And I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says YAHWEH. And I will bring you again into the place from which I sent you into exile, from there.
15; Because you have said, YAHWEH has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,
16; for so says YAHWEH to the king who sits on the throne of David, and to all the people who live in this city, your brothers who have not gone out with you into exile,
17; so says YAHWEH of Hosts, Behold, I am sending among them the sword, the famine, and the plague. And have given them up as figs that are vile, which cannot be eaten from badness.
18; And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and a terror, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations, there where I have driven them.
19; For they have not listened to My Words, says YAHWEH, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending; but you would not hear, says YAHWEH.
20; And now you hear the Word of YAHWEH, all you exiles whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them before your eyes.
22; And a curse shall be taken up from them for all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, May YAHWEH make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,
23; because they have committed disgraceful folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbor's wives, and have spoken a lying word in My name, which I have not commanded them. For I am a witness and He who knows, says YAHWEH.
24; You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your name to all the people in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26; YAHWEH has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be officers in the house of YAHWEH, over every raving man who prophesies, that you should put him into the stocks and into the torture collar.
27; And now why have you not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?
28; On account of this he sent to us in Babylon, saying, This exile is long; build houses and live; and plant gardens and eat their fruit.
29; And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30; Then the Word of YAHWEH came to Jeremiah, saying,
31; Send to all the exiles, saying, So says YAHWEH concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him; and he caused you to trust in a lie;
32; therefore so says YAHWEH, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed. There shall not be to him a man living among this people; nor shall he behold the good which I shall do for My people, says YAHWEH, because he has uttered rebellion against YAHWEH.
Chapter 30
1; The Word that came to Jeremiah from YAHWEH, saying,
2; So speaks YAHWEH, Elohim of Israel, saying, Write for yourself all the Words that I have spoken to you in a book.
3; For, lo, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will turn the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, says YAHWEH; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
4; And these are the Words that YAHWEH spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah:
5; For so says YAHWEH, We have heard a sound of trembling, of dread, and not of peace.
6; Ask now and see whether a male is giving birth? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman giving birth, and all faces are turned to paleness?
7; Alas! For that day is great, for none is like it. And it is a time of Jacob's trouble, but he will be saved out of it.
8; For it shall be in that day, says YAHWEHof Hosts, I will break his yoke from your neck, and I will burst your bonds. And strangers will not again enslave him;
9; but they shall serve YAHWEH their Elohim, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.
10; And you, O My servant Jacob, do not fear, says YAHWEH. Do not be terrified, O Israel. For, lo, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and have quiet, and be untroubled, and no one will make him afraid.
11; For I am with you, says YAHWEH, to save you. Though I make a full end among all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a full end with you. But I will correct you justly, and I will not leave you unpunished.
12; For so says YAHWEH, Your break cannot be cured; your wound is grievous.
13; There is no one to judge your cause; for your ulcer there are no healing medicines for you.
14; All those loving you have forgotten you; they do not seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, because of the greatness of your iniquity. Your sins are many.
15; Why do you cry out over your crushing? Your pain is incurable, for the greatness of your iniquity; your sins are many, so I have done these things to you.
16; Therefore, all those who devour you shall be devoured. And all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity. And those plundering you I will give up to plunder, and all preying on you I will give up for prey.
17; For I will give health back to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says YAHWEH, because they called you, Outcast; saying, This is Zion; no one is seeking for her.
18; So says YAHWEH, Behold I will turn the captivity of Jacob's tents and will have mercy on his dwelling places. And the city shall be built on her ruin heap; and the palace shall remain on its own divine place.
19; And out of them shall come thanksgiving and the voice of those who are merry. And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few. I also will honor them, and they shall not be small.
20; Also, his sons shall be as before, and his congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish all who oppress them.
21; And his leader shall be from him, and his ruler shall come from among him. And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach Me. For who is he who pledged his heart to come near to Me, says YAHWEH?
22; And you shall be My people, and I will be your Elohim.
23; Behold, the tempest of YAHWEH: fury goes forth, a sweeping whirlwind; it shall whirl on the head of the wicked.
24; The glow of the anger of YAHWEH will not turn back until He has executed, and until He has established the purposes of His heart. In latter days you will understand it.
Chapter 31
1; At that time, says YAHWEH, I will be the Elohim of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.
2; So says YAHWEH, Israel, the people, the survivors of the sword, have found grace in the wilderness, I will go to give rest to him.
3; YAHWEH has appeared to me from far away, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love! On account of this, with loving kindness I have drawn you.
4; Again I will build you, and you shall be built again, O virgin of Israel. You will again put on your tambourines and go forth in the dance of those making merry.
5; You shall yet plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, the planters shall plant and shall treat them as common.
6; For there shall be a day when the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall call out, Arise and let us go up to Zion, to YAHWEH our Elohim.
7; For so says YAHWEH, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the head of the nations. Cry out, give praise and say, O YAHWEH, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.
8; Behold! I will bring them from the North Country, and gather them from the recesses of the earth. Among them the blind, and the lame, the pregnant one, and the travailing one together, a great company shall return here.
9; They shall come with weeping, and I will lead them with prayers. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a right way; they will not stumble in it. For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born.
10; Hear the Word of YAHWEH, O nations, and declare in the coastlands far away, and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him, as a shepherd his flock.
11; For YAHWEH has redeemed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of the one stronger than him.
12; And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and be radiant over the goodness of YAHWEH, for grain, and for wine, and for oil, and for the sons of the flock and the herd. And their life shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not continue to languish any more.
13; Then the virgin shall rejoice in the dance, both young men and elders together. For I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14; And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says YAHWEH.
15; So says YAHWEH, A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing, bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her sons; she refuses to be comforted for her sons for they are not here.
16; So says YAHWEH, Hold back your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears. For there will be a reward for your work, says YAHWEH, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17; And there is hope for you in the end time, says YAHWEH, that your sons will come again to their own territory.
18; Hearing I have heard Ephraim moaning over himself, saying, You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bull not broken in. Turn me, and I shall be turned; for You are YAHWEH my Elohim.
19; For after I had turned away, I repented; and after I knew, I slapped on my thigh. I was ashamed; yea, I even blushed, because I bore the reproach of my youth.
20; Is Ephraim My dear son? Or is he a delightful child? For as often as I spoke against him, I will earnestly remember him still. So My bowels are groaning for him; surely, I will have pity on him, declares YAHWEH.
21; Set up road marks for yourself; make sign posts for yourself. Set your heart toward the highway, even the way you went. Turn again, O virgin of Israel; turn again to these cities of yours.
22; Until when will you turn to and fro, O faithless daughter? For YAHWEH has created a new thing in the land: a woman shall enclose a man.
23; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Again they will speak this Word in the land of Judah, and in its cities, when I turn again their captivity, saying, YAHWEH bless you, O home of righteousness, O Set-Apart mountain!
24; And Judah and all its cities shall live in it together, the tenant farmers and those who travel with flocks.
25; For I satisfy the weary soul, and I have filled every sorrowful soul.
26; On this I awoke and looked up, and my sleep was sweet to me.
27; Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, even I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and the seed of animal.
28; And it shall be, as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to bring calamity; so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says YAHWEH.
29; In those days they shall not any more say, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the sons are dull.
30; But every man will die in his iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be dull.
31; Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32; not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
33; But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares YAHWEH, I will put My Torah in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
34; And they shall no longer each man teach his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know YAHWEH. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, declares YAHWEH. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.
35; So says YAHWEH, who gives the sun for a light by day, the laws of the moon, and the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar, YAHWEH of Hosts is His name.
36; If these ordinances depart from before Me, says YAHWEH, the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever.
37; So says YAHWEH, If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be searched out, I will also reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, declares YAHWEH.
38; Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that the city will be built to YAHWEH, from the Tower of Hananeel to the Corner Gate.
39; And the measuring line shall yet go before it to the hill Gareb, and shall go around to Goath.
40; And the whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes and all the fields to the torrent Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate east, shall be Set-Apart to YAHWEH. It shall not be torn up, nor demolished any more, forever.
Chapter 32
1; The Word that came to Jeremiah from YAHWEH in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchad- nezzar.
2; For then the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem. And Jeremiah the prophet was shut in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.
3; For Zedekiah, king of Judah, had shut him up, saying, Why do you prophesy and say, So says YAHWEH, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it?
4; And Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but delivering shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him mouth to mouth, and will see his eyes with his eyes.
5; And he shall lead Zedekiah into Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him, says YAHWEH. Though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed.
6; And Jeremiah said, The Word of YAHWEH was to me saying,
7; Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum, your uncle, shall come to you, saying, Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for the right to redeem is yours, to buy it.
8; So Hanameel, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard, according to the Word of YAHWEH, and said to me, Please buy my field in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right of redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the Word of YAHWEH.
9; And I bought the field in Anathoth from my uncle's son, Hanameel, and weighed him the silver, seventeen shekels of silver.
10; And I wrote it in the document, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed the silver on the scales.
11; So I took the document of the purchase, that which was sealed according to the law and the statutes, and the open copy.
12; And I gave the purchase document to Baruch the son of Neriah the son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of my uncle's son, Hanameel, and before the eyes of the witnesses who wrote in the purchase document before the eyes of all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.
13; And I commanded Baruch before their eyes, saying,
14; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Take these books, the purchase document, the one sealed, and the open book, and put them in an earthen vessel so that they may stand many days.
15; For so says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
16; And after I gave the document of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to YAHWEH, saying,
17; Ah, Adonai YAHWEH! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and Your outstretched arm; nothing is too difficult for You,
18; who acts with loving-kindness to thousands, and repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. The great, El, the mighty YAHWEH of Hosts, is His name.
19; He is great in counsel and mighty in work. For Your eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give to each man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
20; For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt until this day, and in Israel, and among men; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.
21; And You have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
22; And You have given them this land which You swore to their fathers to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23; And they came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice nor did they walk in Your Torah. They have not done all that You commanded them to do, so You have caused all this evil to meet them.
24; Behold, the siege mounds have come to the city, to capture it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and the famine, and the plague. And what You have spoken has happened. And, behold, You see it.
25; O Adonai YAHWEH, And You have said to me, buy for yourself the field with silver, and call witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah, saying,
27; Behold, I am YAHWEH, the Elohim of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
28; So YAHWEH says this: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
29; And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall enter and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses where they offered incense on their roofs to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger.
30; For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have only done evil in My eyes from their youth. For the sons of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands, declares YAHWEH.
31; For this city has been to Me a cause of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it even to this day, that I should remove it from My face;
32; because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and of the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger, they, their kings, their rulers, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and those living in Jerusalem.
33; And they have turned the back to Me, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
34; But they set their abominable idols in the house on which My name has been called, to defile it.
35; And they built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My heart, that they should do this detestable thing, to cause Judah to sin.
36; And so now YAHWEH, Elohim of Israel, says this concerning this city, of which you say, It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague;
37; Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands, there where I have driven them in My anger, and in My fury, and in great indignation. And I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to live in safety.
38; And they shall be My people, and I will be their Elohim.
39; And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may revere Me all the days, for good to them and to their sons after them.
40; And I will cut an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do good to them. But I will put My revere in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me.
41; And I will rejoice over them, to do good to them; and I will truly plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
42; For so says YAHWEH: As I have brought this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I am speaking to them.
43; And fields will be bought in this land, of which you say, It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44; Men shall buy fields for silver, and write in a document, and seal it, and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev. For I will cause their captivity to return, says YAHWEH.
Chapter 33
1; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
2; So says YAHWEH its Maker, YAHWEH who formed it in order to establish it; YAHWEH is His name:
3; Call to Me, and I will answer you; and I will tell you great and inaccessible things; you do not know them.
4; For so says YAHWEH, the Elohim 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 with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I have struck in My anger and in My wrath, and for whom I have hidden My face from this city, because of all their evil.
6; Behold, I will bring health and healing to it, and I will heal them and will show them the abundance of peace and truth.
7; And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
8; And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities which they have sinned against Me, and which they have rebelled against Me.
9; And it shall be a name of joy to Me, a praise and a glory to all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do for them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the peace that I do for it.
10; So says YAHWEH, Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say shall be waste without man and without beast, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man, without one living in it, and without beast,
11; the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those saying, Praise YAHWEH of Hosts, for YAHWEH is good, for His mercy endures forever; those who shall bring the sacrifice of thanks-giving into the house of YAHWEH. For I will bring back the captivity of the land, as at the first, says YAHWEH.
12; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, Again in this place which is a waste without man or even beast, and in all its cities shall be a home of shepherds causing flocks to lie down.
13; In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall pass again under the hands of him who tallies, says YAHWEH.
14; Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will fulfill the 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 a Branch of Righteousness to grow up to David. And He shall do judgment and righteousness in the land.
16; In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety. And this is the name that shall be called on her: YAHWEH TZADEKENU.
17; For so says YAHWEH, Not a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel will be cut off to David.
18; And for the Levitical priests, they shall not have a man cut off before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle food offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah, saying,
20; So says YAHWEH, If you can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and there should not be day and night in their time,
21; then My covenant with My servant David may also be broken, that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My attendants.
22; As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of My servant David, and the Levites who minister to Me.
23; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Jeremiah, saying,
24; Have you not observed what these people have spoken, saying, The two families that YAHWEH has chosen, has He also rejected them? And they despise My people, no more to be a nation before them.
25; So says YAHWEH, If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of the heavens and earth,
26; then I also will reject the seed of Jacob, and My servant David, not to take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will bring back their captivity and have pity on them.