The Father's Promise of Healing and Restoration
33 1 The word of our Father came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guard:
2 This is what our Father says—the one who made the earth, who formed it to establish it—our Father is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and hidden things you have not known. 4 For this is what our Father of Israel says concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that are being torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and the sword: 5 They go out to fight the Chaldeans, but only to fill these houses with the dead bodies of those I strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 Yet look, I am about to bring this city healing and health; I will heal my people and reveal to them an abundance of lasting peace and faithfulness. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 And this city will become for me a name of joy, a song of praise and glory before all the nations of the earth who hear of all the good I do for them. They will tremble in awe because of all the good and all the peace I provide for it.
10 This is what our Father says: In this place that you say is a ruin, without man or beast—in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that lie desolate, without man, without inhabitant, without beast—there will be heard again 11 the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who say, as they bring thank offerings to the house of our Father: 'Give thanks to the Father of heaven's armies, for he is good, for his covenant love endures forever!' For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says our Father.
12 This is what the Father of heaven's armies says: In this place that is desolate, without man or beast, and in all its towns, there will again be pastures where shepherds rest their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Shephelah, and the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, the areas around Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says our Father. a a v13 The Shephelah: the low foothills of western Judah, between the central highlands and the coastal plain.
14 Look, the days are coming, declares our Father, when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout up for David, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land. b b v15 The Branch: a messianic title for the promised righteous king to come from David's line. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which she will be called: 'Our Father is our righteousness.'
17 For this is what our Father says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests will never lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices for all time.
19 The word of our Father came to Jeremiah:
20 This is what our Father says: If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant could also be broken, so that he would have no son to reign on his throne—and so could my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister to me. 22 As the stars of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.
23 The word of our Father came to Jeremiah:
24 Haven't you noticed what these people are saying—'The two families our Father chose he has now rejected'? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation. 25 This is what our Father says: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, 26 then I would reject the offspring of Jacob and of David my servant, and refuse to take from his offspring rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.