 1 The Word came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, 2 Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For the days will come says the Lord, that I will again bring the captivity of my people Israel and Judah. I will cause them to return to the land that I gave their fathers and they will possess it. 4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For thus says the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask now, and see whether a man is giving birth? Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist+ like a woman in labor 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 In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break his yoke from your neck and will burst your bonds. Strangers will no longer enslave him. 9 But they will serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10 Do not fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord. Do not be terrified, Israel. For I will save you from far away and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return and will be in rest and be quiet and no one will make him afraid. 11 For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you. Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a full end of you. But I will correct you in measure, and will not leave you entirely unpunished. 12 For thus says the Lord, your break cannot be cured, and your wound is grievous. 13 There is none to plead your cause. For your ulcer there are no healing medicines for you. 14 All your lovers 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, for the greatness of your iniquity. This because your sins are many. 15 Why do you cry over your crushing? your pain is incurable, for the greatness of your iniquity. Because your sins are many, I have done these things to you. 16 So all those who devour you will be devoured. All your enemies, every one of them, will go into captivity. Those who rob you will be robbed. All who strip you I will strip. 17 For I will give health back to you and will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord. Because they called you an outcast, saying, This is Zion. No one is seeking her. 18 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents and will have mercy on his dwelling places. The city will be built on her own hill and the palace will remain in its own place. 19 Out of them shall come thanksgiving, and the voice of those who rejoice. I will multiply them and they will not be few. I will also glorify them and they will not be small. 20 Their children will be as they were before and their congregation will be established before me and I will punish all who treat them ill. 21 Their rulers will be of themselves and their governor will come from among them. I will cause him to draw near and he will approach me. For who is this who pledged his heart to come near to me? says the Lord. 22 You will be my people and I will be your God. 23 Behold, the tempest of the Lord's wrath goes forth, a sweeping tempest. It will whirl on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it and until He has fulfilled the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you will understand.
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