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And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined to the atrium of the prison, saying:
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“Thus says the Lord, who will prepare, and form, and accomplish it; the Lord is his name.
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Cry out to me and I will heed you. And I will announce to you great things, things that are certain, though you do not know them.
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For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Judah, which have been destroyed, and to the fortifications, and to the sword
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of those who have arrived, so that they may fight with the Chaldeans, and so that they may have their fill of the dead bodies of the men whom I have struck down in my fury and in my indignation, concealing my face from this city, because of all their wickedness:
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Behold, I will lead over them scars and health, and I will cure them. And I will reveal to them an invocation of peace and truth.(a)
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And I will convert the turning away of Judah and the turning away of Jerusalem. And I will build them up, just as from the beginning.
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And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me. And I will forgive all their iniquities, by which they have offended against me and have despised me.
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And this will be for me: a name, and a joy, and a praise, and an exultation, among all the nations of the earth who will hear about all the good things that I will accomplish for them. And they will be afraid and troubled over all these good things, and over all the peace, that I will accomplish for them.
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Thus says the Lord: Still shall there be heard in this place, (which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast,) and in the cities of Judah and outside of Jerusalem, (which are desolate, without man, and without an inhabitant and without cattle,)
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the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: ‘Confess to the Lord of hosts! For the Lord is good! For his mercy is eternal!’ and the voice of those fulfilling their vows in the house of the Lord. For I will lead back the turning away of the land, just as from the beginning, says the Lord.”
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Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Still shall there be in this place, (which is desolate without man and without beast,) and in all of its cities: a habitation for the shepherds giving rest to their flocks.
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For even in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities on the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and all around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, still shall the flocks travel by the hand of him who numbers them, says the Lord.
The Covenant with David
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Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
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In those days and at that time, I will cause the seedling of justice to spring up from David, and he will accomplish judgment and justice upon the earth.
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In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: ‘The Lord, our Just One.’
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For thus says the Lord: There shall not cease to be a man from David sitting upon the throne of the house of Israel.(b)
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And there shall not cease to be a man from the priests and from the Levites before my face, who offers holocausts, and burns sacrifices, and kills victims, for days without end.”(c)
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And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
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“Thus says the Lord: If my covenant with the day is able to be nullified, or my covenant with the night, such that there would be no day and no night in their time,
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then, too, my covenant with David, my servant, may be nullified, such that he would not have a son who reigns upon his throne, with both the Levites and the priests as my ministers.
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Just as the stars of heaven are not able to be numbered, and the sand of the sea is not able to be measured, so will I multiply the offspring of David, my servant, and the Levites, my ministers.”
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And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
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“Have you not seen what this people has spoken? They say: ‘The two families which the Lord had chosen have been rejected.’ And so they have despised my people, as if they were no longer a nation in their sight.(d)
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Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with the day and the night, and my laws over heaven and earth,
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then truly I will also cast aside the offspring of Jacob, and of David, my servant, so that I do not take up any of his offspring to be leaders over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will lead back their turning away, and I will take pity on them.”
Footnotes