1 The word that came to Jeremiah from theLord, saying,
2 Thus speaketh theLord, 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 theLord, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith theLord: 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 theLordspake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5 For thus saith theLord: 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: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
8 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith theLordof hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bands; and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
9 but they shall serve theLordtheir God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
10 Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith theLord; 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 return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith theLord, 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; but I will correct thee with judgment, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.
12 For thus saith theLord, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous.
13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest 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? 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 theLord; because they have called thee an outcast,saying, It is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
18 Thus saith theLord: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
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 few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
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 had boldness to approach unto me? saith theLord.
22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
23 Behold, the tempest of theLord,even hisfury, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of theLordshall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it.