And you'll no longer be called "Deserted,' and your land will no longer be called "Desolate'; but people will call you "Hephzibah,' and your land "Beulah' for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married."

"For just as a young man marries a maiden, so your sons will marry you; and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

"The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: "I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; never again will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have toiled;

but surely those who harvest it will eat it and praise the name of the LORD, and those who gather it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary,' says your God."

People will call them, "The Holy People,' "The Redeemed of the LORD'; and they will call you, "Sought After,' "The City Not Deserted.'"

I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD, the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, according to all the LORD has done for us yes, the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his gracious love.

You come to the aid of those who gladly do what's right, To those who remember you in your ways. See, you were angry, and we sinned against them for a long time, but we will be saved.

Watch out! It stands written before me: "I won't keep silent, but I will pay back in full; I'll indeed repay into their laps

I'll bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah they will inherit my mountains; my chosen people will inherit it, and my servants will live there.

Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a fold for herds, for my people who have sought me.

I'll consign you to the sword, and all of you will bend down for the slaughter because when I called, you didn't answer, when I spoke, you didn't listen; but you did what was evil in my sight, and chose what I took no pleasure in."

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "See, my servants will eat, but you'll go hungry; my servants will drink, but you'll go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you'll be put to shame.

My servants will sing in gladness of heart, but you'll cry for help from anguish of heart, and you'll howl from brokenness of spirit.

You'll leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse, and the Lord GOD will put you to death permanently.

Then whoever takes an oath by the God of faithfulness, and whoever takes an oath in the land, will swear by the God of faithfulness, because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.

Take notice! I'm about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things won't be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

I'll rejoice over Jerusalem, and take delight in my people; no longer will the sound of weeping be heard in it, nor the cry of distress.

"And there will no longer be in it a young boy who lives only a few days, or an old person who does not live out his days; for one who dies at a hundred years will be thought a mere youth, and one who falls short of a hundred years will be considered accursed.

People will build houses and live in them; They'll plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

They won't build for others to inhabit; they won't plant for others to eat for like the lifetime of a tree, so will the lifetime of my people be, and my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.

They won't toil in vain nor bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be offspring blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.

Before they call, I will answer, while they are still speaking, I'll hear.

"The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but as for the serpent its food will be dust! They won't harm or destroy on my entire holy mountain," says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you would build for me, and where will my resting place be?

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But this is the one to whom I will look favorably: to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my message.

Therefore I, too, will choose harsh treatment for them, and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn't listen; but they did what I consider to be evil, and chose what doesn't please me."

"Hear this message from the LORD, you who tremble at his words: "Your own brothers who hate you and exclude you because of my name have said: "Let the LORD be glorified; he will see your joy,' yet it is they who will be put to shame.

This is what the LORD says: "See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees.

Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

And when you look, your hearts will rejoice and your bodies will flourish like grass; and it will be made known that the LORD's hand is with his servants, but his fury is with his enemies.

"Take notice! The LORD will come with fire, and his chariot will be like a whirlwind, to pay back his anger yes, his anger! in fury, and his menacing rebukes in flames of fire.

For with fire and with his sword the LORD will proceed to judgment on all humanity, and those slain by the LORD will be many."

"But as for me, I know their actions and their thoughts. Come and gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

"I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations.

They will bring all yes, all! of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules yes, even on mules! and on camels," says the LORD, "just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD's house.

Then I will also select some of them for myself as priests and as Levites," says the LORD.

"For as the new heavens and the new earth that I am about to make will endure before me," says the LORD, "so will your descendants and your name endure.

And from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all humanity will come to worship before me," says the LORD.

"Then they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of the people who rebelled against me. For their worm will not die, nor will their fire be extinguished, and they will remain an object of revulsion to all humanity."

Then the LORD told me, "Don't say, "I'm only a young man,' for you will go everywhere I send you, and you will speak everything I command you.

Then the LORD told me, "From the north disaster will pour out on all who live in the land,

because I'm about to summon all the families and kingdoms from the north," declares the LORD. "They'll come and each one will set up his seat at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all of its surrounding walls, and against all of the towns of Judah.

Your wickedness will be punished, and you will be corrected due to your acts of apostasy. Know and see that it's evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, but the fear of me is not in you," declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.

a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her passion. When she's in heat, who can turn her away? None of the males who pursue her need to tire themselves out, for in her month they'll find her."

Will a young woman forget her wedding ornaments, or a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number.

Why do you go about changing your mind so much? You will also be disappointed by Egypt, just as you were disappointed by Assyria.

You will also go out from this place with your hands over your heads. For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you won't prosper through them."

"When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, will the first husband return to her again? The land would be deeply polluted, would it not? Since you have committed fornication with many lovers, would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.

will he hold on to his anger forever, will he persist in his wrath to the end?' Look, you have spoken and done evil things, and you have succeeded in it."

I thought, "After she has done all these things, she will return to me.' But she didn't return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw this.

"And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land," declares the LORD, "people will no longer say, "The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD,' and it won't come to mind, and they won't remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again.

At that time people will call Jerusalem, "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. They'll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.

In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they'll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance."

"I said, "How I wanted to treat you like children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.' I said, "You will call me, my father, and won't turn back from following me.'

If you swear, "as surely as the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations will be blessed by him, and in him they will boast."

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskin of your heart, you men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds."

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will be ruined, and without inhabitants.

"On that day," declares the LORD, "the courage of the king and the leaders will fail. The priests will be appalled and the prophets astounded."

Then I replied, "Ah, Lord GOD, you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem when you said, "You will have peace,' while the sword is at their throat!"

At that time, it will be told this people and to Jerusalem, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert is coming toward my people, and it's not for winnowing or cleansing.

Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart so that you may be delivered. How long will you harbor evil schemes within you?

How long will I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

For this is what the LORD says: "The entire land will be devastated, but I won't completely destroy it.

Because of this, the land will mourn, and the heavens above will be dark. Because I have spoken and decided, I won't turn back from doing it."

Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will devastate them. A leopard is watching their towns, and everyone who goes out of them will be torn to pieces. For their transgressions are many, and their apostasies numerous.

Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies says: "Because you people have said this, my words in your mouth will become a fire and these people the wood. The fire will destroy them.

When the people ask, "Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you are to say to them, "Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'"

The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"

Shepherds and their flocks will come against her. They'll pitch their tents all around her, and every one will tend his flock in his own place.

To whom will I speak and give a warning so they'll listen? Look, their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. Look, this message from the LORD is contemptible to them; they don't delight in it.

I'm full of the wrath of the LORD, and I'm tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street and on the groups of young men gathered together. Indeed, both husband and wife will be caught in it, the old and the very old.

Their houses will be turned over to others their fields and wives together when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land," declares the LORD.

Therefore, hear, nations, and know, congregation, what will happen to them.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to put stumbling blocks in front of this people, and fathers and sons will stumble over them together. The neighbor and his friends will perish."

Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as one mourns at the death of an only son. For the destroyer will come on us suddenly.

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear by false gods, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods that you don't know,

Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: "I'm about to pour out my anger and my wrath on this place, on people and animals, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn, and it won't be put out."

but I did give them this command: "Obey me and I'll be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you so it will go well for you.'

"You will tell them all these things, but they won't listen to you. You will call out to them, but they won't answer you.

You will say to them, "This is the nation that wouldn't listen to the voice of the LORD its God and wouldn't accept correction. Truth has perished; it has been eliminated from their discussions.'

"Therefore, the time is near," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They'll bury in Topheth because there is no other place to do it.

The dead bodies of these people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the land, and no one will disturb them.

In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I'll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland."

"At that time," declares the LORD, "the bones of the king of Judah, the bones of his officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.

They'll be spread out to the sun, the moon, and all the stars of the heavens, which they loved and served, and which they followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won't be collected, nor will they be buried. They'll be like dung on the surface of the ground.

"In all the places where the people remain, where I've banished them, death will be chosen over life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"You are to say to them, "This is what the LORD says: "Will a person fall down and then not get up? Will someone turn away and then not turn back again?

The wise men will be put to shame. They'll be dismayed and taken captive. Look, they have rejected the message from the LORD! So what kind of wisdom do they have?

Speak! "This is what the LORD says: "The corpses of people will fall like dung on the surface of the field, and like a row of cut grain behind the harvester when there is no one to gather it."'"

Tell this to them: "The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from these heavens."

which I commanded to your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace. I said, "Obey me and do everything that I commanded you. Then you will be my people and I'll be your God.'

The towns of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they'll be no help at all to them in the time of their disaster.

The LORD once called you a green olive tree, with beautiful shape and fruit. With a great roaring sound, he has set fire to it and its branches will be destroyed.

Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "I'm about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and daughters will die by famine.

Not one of them will be left, for I'll bring disaster on the men of Anathoth when I punish them."

How long will the land mourn and the vegetation of every field dry up? Because of the wickedness of those who live in it, animals and birds are swept away. For they say, "He does not see our future."

Indeed, if you run with others on foot, and they tire you out, how can you compete with horses? You are secure in a land at peace, but how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

Is my inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to me? Are the other birds of prey all around her coming against her? Go, gather all the wild animals and bring them to devour it.

Many shepherds will destroy my vineyard. They'll trample down my portion. They'll turn my pleasant portion into a desolate desert.

They'll make it into a desolate place, and, desolate, it will cry out in mourning to me. The whole land will be desolate because no one takes it to heart.