Hear the word of Yahweh, nations, and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say, "The scatterer of Israel will gather him, and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.

The Lord says, "At that time young women will dance and be glad. Young men and old men will rejoice. I will turn their grief into gladness. I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow.

And I will fill to the full the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD.

Thus says Yahweh, "A voice [is] heard in Ramah, lamentation, [the] weeping of bitterness. Rachel [is] weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted because of her children, for they are no [more]."

Thus says Yahweh: "Restrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work," {declares} Yahweh, "and they will return from [the] land of [the] enemy.

And there is hope in your end, says the LORD, that your children shall come again to their own border.

I have indeed heard the people of Israel say mournfully, 'We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. You disciplined us and we learned from it. Let us come back to you and we will do so, for you are the Lord our God.

Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart is troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the LORD.

I will say, 'My dear children of Israel, keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "They will again say these words in the land of Judah and in its towns at my restoring their fortunes, 'Yahweh bless you, settlement of righteousness, O hill of holiness.'

Then they will say, 'Under these conditions I can enjoy sweet sleep when I wake up and look around.'"

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.

And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the LORD.

"In those days they will say no longer, '{Parents} have eaten unripe fruit, and [the] teeth of [the] children {are set on edge}.'

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Thus says Yahweh, who gives [the] sun for light by day, the regulations of [the] moon and [the] stars for light [by] night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar--Yahweh of hosts [is] his name.

If those fixed orders depart from before me, says the LORD, then the descendants of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.

Thus says Yahweh, "If [the] heavens above can be measured, and [the] foundations of [the] earth below can be explored, also I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all that they have done," {declares} Yahweh.

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner.

where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, {saying}, "Why [are] you prophesying, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it,

And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, says the LORD: though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper.

And Jeremiah will say, The word of Jehovah was to me, saying,

See, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your father's brother, will come to you and say, Give the price and get for yourself my property in Anathoth: for you have the right of the nearest relation.

And Hanameel mine uncle's son will come to me according to the word of Jehovah, to the enclosure of the prison, and he will say to me, Buy now, my field, which is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin: for to thee judgment of possession, and to thee the redemption; buy to thee, and I shall know that this is the word of Jehovah.

'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land." '

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh: "Look, I [am] going to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the LORD.

"So now {therefore}, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, [of] which you [are] saying, 'It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague':

"For thus says Yahweh, 'Just as I have brought to this people all this great disaster, so I [will] bring upon them all the good that I promise to them.

And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Men shall buy fields for money, and sign deeds, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, says the LORD.

"Thus says Yahweh who made [the earth], Yahweh who formed it to establish it, Yahweh [is] his name:

For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, that were torn down [to make a defense] against the siege ramps and against the sword:

"Thus says Yahweh: 'Again will be heard in this place, [of] which you [are] saying, "It [is] a waste, {without} people and {without} animals," in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, {without} people and {without} inhabitants and {without} animals,

[the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, [the] voices of [those who] say, "Praise Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh [is] good, for his loyal love [is] {forever}," [the voices of those who] bring thank offerings [to] the house of Yahweh, for I will restore the fortunes of the land as in the beginning,' says Yahweh.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Again there will be in this waste place, {without} people and animals, and in all its towns, pasture for shepherds allowing [their] flock to lie down.

In the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the Shephelah, and in the towns of the Negev, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings [of] Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under [the] hands of [the] counter,' says Yahweh.

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

For thus says Yahweh: 'A man who sits on the throne of the house of Israel will not be cut off for David.

"Thus says Yahweh: 'If you could break my covenant [with] the day, and my covenant [with] the night, so that day and night [would] not come at their time,

Have you taken note of what these people have said, The two families, which the Lord took for himself, he has given up? This they say, looking down on my people as being, in their eyes, no longer a nation.

Thus says Yahweh: 'If my covenant [with] day and [with] night, [the] regulations of heaven and earth, I had not established,

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Go and say to Zedekiah the king of Judah, now you must say to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Look, I [am] going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

However, hear the word of Yahweh, Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Thus says Yahweh concerning you: 'You will not die by the sword.

But you shall die in peace: and with the ceremonial fires of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they burn incense for you; and they will lament you, saying, Alas lord! for I have pronounced the word, says the LORD.

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'I {made} a covenant with your ancestors on the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, from [the] house of slaves, {saying},

"{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, 'You have not listened to me to proclaim release each one to his fellow countryman and each one to his neighbor. Look, I [am] going to proclaim to you a release,' {declares} Yahweh, 'to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Behold, I will command, says the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

and I put before the sons of the house of the Rechabites goblets full of wine, and cups, and I say unto them, Drink ye wine.

And they say, 'We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, Ye do not drink wine, ye and your sons -- unto the age;

and it cometh to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon unto the land, that we say, Come, and we enter Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans, and because of the force of Aram -- and we dwell in Jerusalem.'

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?" {declares} Yahweh.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered." '"

But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor, and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,'

{therefore} thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: 'A man will not be cut off for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand {before me} {always}.'"

"Get a scroll. Write on it everything I have told you to say about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations since I began to speak to you in the reign of Josiah until now.

So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. Then Jeremiah dictated to Baruch everything the Lord had told him to say and Baruch wrote it all down in a scroll.

and they say unto him, 'Sit down, we pray thee, and read it in our ears,' and Baruch readeth in their ears,

and it cometh to pass, when they hear all the words, they have been afraid one at another, and say unto Baruch, 'We do surely declare to the king all these words.'

And questioning Baruch, they said, Say now, how did you put all these words down in writing from his mouth?

And Baruch will say to them, From his mouth he will read to me all these words, and I will write upon the book with ink.

And the heads say unto Baruch, 'Go, be hidden, thou and Jeremiah, and let no one know where ye are.'

And concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, you shall say, 'Thus says Yahweh, "You have burned this scroll, {saying}, 'Why have you written in it, {saying}, "The king of Babylon will certainly come and he will destroy this land, and he will cause to disappear from it humankind and animals"?'"

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, "There will not be for him [one who] sits on the throne of David. And his dead body will be thrown out to the heat in the day and to the frost in the night.

King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah. He told them to say, "Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf."

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire [of] me, "Look, the army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, [is] going to return to his land Egypt.

Thus says Yahweh: 'You must not deceive yourselves, {saying}, "Surely the Chaldeans will go from us," for they will not go.

And Jeremiah will say, A falsehood; I fall not to the Chaldean: And he heard not to him: and Irijah will seize upon Jeremiah and he will bring him to the chiefs.

And king Zedekiah will send and take him, and the king will ask him in his house in secret, and say, Is there a word from Jehovah? and Jeremiah will say, There is: and he will say, Into the hand of the king of Babel shalt thou be given.

And Jeremiah will say to king Zedekiah, What did I sin against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people that thou gavest me to the house of the prison?

Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah had heard the things that Jeremiah had been telling the people. They had heard him say,

"Thus says Yahweh, 'The [one who] stays in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But the [one who] goes out to the Chaldeans will live. And his life will be for him as booty, and he will live.'

Thus says Yahweh, 'Surely this city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.'"

And the heads say unto the king, 'Let, we pray thee, this man be put to death, because that he is making feeble the hands of the men of war, who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking unto them according to these words, for this man is not seeking for the peace of this people, but for its evil.'

And king Zedekiah will say, Behold him in your hands; for the king will not be able a word with you.

And the king's servant the Cashite will say to Jeremiah, Put now the old rags torn and rubbed small, under the joints of thy hands from under the cords; and Jeremiah will do so.

And king Zedekiah will send and take Jeremiah the prophet to him to the third entrance which was in the house of Jehovah; and the king will say to Jeremiah, I ask thee a word; thou shalt not hide a word from me.

And Jeremiah will say to Zedekiah, If I shall announce to thee, killing, wilt thou not put me to death? and if I shall counsel thee, thou wilt not hear to me?

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If only you will go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then {you} will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you will live, you and your house.

And king Zedekiah will say to Jeremiah, I fear the Jews who fell to the Chaldeans, lest they shall give me into their hand and they illtreated me.

And Jeremiah will say, They shall not give. Hear, now, to the voice of Jehovah for which I speak to thee: and it shall be well to thee, and thy soul shall live.

behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee: now that thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.

And Zedekiah will say to Jeremiah, No man shall know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, 'Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal [it] from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?'

Then you shall say to them, 'I [was] presenting my plea {before} the king, to not cause me to return [to] the house of Jonathan to die there.'"

Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah, questioning him: and he gave them an answer in the words the king had given him orders to say. So they said nothing more to him; for the thing was not made public.

Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

"Go and say to Ebed-melech the Cushite, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to bring my words to pass against this city for evil and not for good. And they will be {before you} on that day.

But I will deliver you in that day, says the LORD: and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prize unto you: because you have put your trust in me, says the LORD.

And the chief of the cooks will take to Jeremiah and say to him, Jehovah thy God spake this evil against this place.

Now pay attention: Today I am setting you free from the chains that were on your hands. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look—the whole land is in front of you. Wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.”

All the Jews, I say, returned out of all places where they were fled unto: and came in to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah unto Mizphah, and gathered wine and other fruits, and that very much.

and they say unto him, 'Dost thou really know that Baalis king of the sons of Ammon hath sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to smite thy soul?' And Gedaliah son of Ahikam hath not given to them credence.

But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, You are not to do this: for what you say about Ishmael is false.

And Ishmael son of Nethaniah came forth to meet them from Mizpeh; he went going and weeping: and it will be as he fell in with them, and he will say to them, Come to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam.