Restoration of Israel and Judah

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2Thus speaketh the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. 3For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5For thus saith the LORD: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7Alas! 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.

8And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bands; and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9but they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

11For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee with judgment, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.

12For thus saith the LORD, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous.

13There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one; for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased.

15Why criest thou for thy hurt? thy pain is incurable: for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they have called thee an outcast, saying, It is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

Restoration of Jacob

18Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

19And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith the LORD.

22And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23Behold, the tempest of the LORD, even his fury, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked.

24The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it.