JEREMIAH 30 (NIV)
- This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
- "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.
- The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the Lord."
- These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
- "This is what the Lord says: "'Cries of fear are hard - terror, not peace.
- Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomack like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale?
- How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.
- "'In that day,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.
- Instead, they will serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
- "'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the Lord. 'I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.
- I am with you and will save you,' declares the Lord. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'
- "This is what the Lord says: "'Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.
- There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.
- All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many.
- Why do you cry over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.
- "'But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
- But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'
- "This is what the Lord says: "'I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassiion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place.
- From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be disdained.
- Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them.
- Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?" declares the Lord.
- "'So will you be my people, and I will be your God.'"
- See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swerling down on the heads of the wicked.
- The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishhes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.