1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 2 'Thus speaketh the LORD, the God of Israel, saying: Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. 3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will turn the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.' {P}
4 And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For thus saith the LORD: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child; wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is a time of trouble unto Jacob, but out of it shall he be saved. 8 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bands; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman; 9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. {S} 10 Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob My servant, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel; for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; for I will correct thee in measure, and will not utterly destroy thee. {P}
12 For thus saith the LORD: Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. 13 None deemeth of thy wound that it may be bound up; thou hast no healing medicines. 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee, they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one; for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. 15 Why criest thou for thy hurt, that thy pain is incurable? For the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. 16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. 17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they have called thee an outcast: 'She is Zion, there is none that careth for her.' {S} 18 Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon her own mound, and the palace shall be inhabited upon its wonted place. 19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry; and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished, I will also increase them, and they shall not dwindle away. 20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress them. 21 And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me; for who is he that hath pledged his heart to approach unto Me? saith the LORD. 22 And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. {S} 23 Behold, a storm of the LORD is gone forth in fury, a sweeping storm; it shall whirl upon the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until He have executed, and till He have performed the purposes of His heart; in the end of days ye shall consider it. 25 At that time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. {S}