Jeremiah 50

1 And the Chaldeans that fight against this city, shall come and set it on fire, and burn it, with the houses upon whose roofs they offered sacrifice to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath. 2 For the children of Israel, and the children of Juda, have continually done evil in my eyes from their youth: the children of Israel who even till now provoke me with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. 3 For this city hath been to me a provocation and indignation from the day that they built it, until this day, in which it shall be taken out of my sight. 4 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Juda, which they have done, provoking me to wrath, they and their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 5 And they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces: when I taught them early in the morning, and instructed them, and they would not hearken to receive instruction. 6 And they have set their idols in the house, in which my name is called upon, to defile it. 7 And they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Ennom, to consecrate their sons and their daughters to Moloch: which I commanded them not, neither entered it into my heart, that they should do this abomination, and cause Juda to sin. 8 And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to this city, whereof you say that it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: 9 Behold I will gather them together out of all the lands to which I have cast them out in my anger, and in my wrath, and in my great indignation: and I will bring them again into this place, and will cause them to dwell securely. 10 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 11 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me all days: and that it may be well with them, and with their children after them. 12 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and will not cease to do them good: and I will give my fear in their heart, that they may not revolt from me. 13 And I will rejoice over them, when I shall do them good: and I will plant them in this land in truth, with my whole heart, and with all my soul. 14 For thus saith the Lord: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil: so will I bring upon them all the good that I now speak to them. 15 And fields shall be purchased in this land: whereof you say that it is desolate, because there remaineth neither man nor beast, and it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans. 16 Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be written, and sealed, and witnesses shall be taken, in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, in the cities of Juda, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: for I will bring back their captivity, saith the Lord. 18 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: 19 Thus saith the Lord, who will do, and will form it, and prepare it, the Lord is his name. 20 Cry to me and I will hear thee: and I will shew thee great things, and sure things which thou knowest not. 21 For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Juda, which are destroyed, and to the bulwarks, and to the sword. 22 Of them that come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in my wrath, and in my indignation, hiding my face from this city because of all their wickedness. 23 Behold I will close their wounds and give them health, and I will cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace and truth. 24 And I will bring back the captivity of Juda, and the captivity of Jerusalem: and I will build them as from the beginning. 25 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me: and I will forgive all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and despised me. 26 And it shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a gladness before all the nations of the earth, that shall hear of all the good things which I will do to them: and they shall fear and be troubled for all the good things, and for all the peace that I will make for them. 27 Thus saith the Lord: There shall be heard again in this place (which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast: in the cities of Juda, and without Jerusalem, which are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast) 28 The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say: Give ye glory to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring their vows into the house of the Lord: for I will bring back the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord. 29 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall be again in this place that is desolate without man, and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 30 And in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: and in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda shall the flocks pass again under the hand of him that numbereth them, saith the Lord. 31 Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of Juda. 32 In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth. 33 In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our just one. 34 For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut off from David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. 35 Neither shall there be cut off from the priests and Levites a man before my face to offer holocausts, and to burn sacrifices, and to kill victims continually. 36 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 37 Thus saith the Lord: if my covenant, with the day can be made void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and night in their season: 38 Also my covenant with David my servant may be made void, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and priests my ministers. 39 As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites my ministers. 40 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 41 Hast thou not seen what this people hath spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord had chosen, are cast off: and they have despised my people, so that it is no more a nation before them? 42 Thus saith the Lord. If I have not set my covenant between day and night, and laws to heaven and earth: 43 Surely I will also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so as not to take any of his seed to be rulers of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will bring back their captivity, and will have mercy on them. 45 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying: 46 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.