1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
3 For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring 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.
4 And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5 For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask 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?
7 Alas! 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.
8 For 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 bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, 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 in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
12 For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
14 All 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 multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
16 Therefore 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.
17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
18 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
19 And 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.
20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.
21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.
22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
<html><b>For, behold, days are coming</b> And you shall not say, Why should I write it, since they all will perish, and no one will read it, neither will anyone remember it anymore, for, “behold, days are coming, etc.”</html>
<html><b>A sound of quaking we have heard</b> Some interpret this as alluding to the tidings of Babylon, from which those exiled there quaked. But the Midrash Aggadah explains it as an allusion to the war of Gog and Magog.</html>
<html><b>whether a male gives birth</b> Whether it is customary for males to give birth, so that labor pains should seize them like a woman in confinement. <b>his loins</b> like מָתְנָיו.</html>
<html><b>that day</b> The day of the assassination of Belshazzar and the downfall of Babylon. Another explanation: the day of the downfall of Gog.</html>
<html><b>I will break his yoke</b> The yoke of the heathens will be removed from Israel.</html>
<html><b>And you, fear not</b> Because of all the evils that you will see befalling Babylon in whose midst you are. <b>and at ease</b> like וְֹשָקֵט.</html>
<html><b>but I will chasten you in measure</b> according to the law of the Torah. <b>and I will not completely destroy you</b> an expression of a sweeping destruction.</html>
<html><b>Your injury is painful, your wound grievous</b> (Enfers in Old French).</html>
<html><b>to be healed</b> cure. No one thinks that you will have salvation. <b>healing</b> a cure, an expression of availing.</html>
<html><b>cruel chastisement</b> chastisements of cruelty. The chastisement is cruel.</html>
<html><b>Therefore</b> This is an expression denoting an oath. <b>those who plunder you</b> an expression of spoil, and so did Jonathan render it: וִיהוֹן עָדַיִךְ לַעֲדִי.</html>
<html><b>healing</b> Heb. ארכה.</html>
<html><b>and the palace</b> The Temple.</html>
<html><b>and I will increase them</b> I will make them a numerous nation. <b>and they shall not become few in number</b> like יִמְעָטוּ.</html>
<html><b>their prince</b> lit., his mighty one. <b>pledged his heart</b> an expression of a pledge (fermaille, aatine in French). <b>to approach Me</b> to war, to stop Me.</html>
<html><b>settling storm</b> camping and dwelling an expression of “the land of the sojournings of (מְגוּרֵי)” (Gen. 37:1), and a similar case is “and a whirling (מִתְחוֹלֵל) storm” (supra 23:19) stated in the other verse is the same as this for both of them are expressions of camping. <b>on the head[s] of the wicked</b> On the heads of the heathens.
Chapter 31 Chapter 40
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<html><b>The word that came</b> What is stated at the end of the section (42:7): “And it was at the end of ten days that the word of the Lord came etc.,” but he first wrote on account of what it was said to him. And the Midrash Aggadah in Lamentations Rabbah (Proem 34): What was the word? “And return to Gedaliah.” He said to him: Either you go down with them and I will remain (?) here, or you remain here and I will go down with them. He replied: If I go down with them, what will I help them? Rather, let their Creator go down with them, for He will help them exceedingly. <b>from Ramah</b> Where he went into exile by himself with them. He would see a group [of youths] joined by a collar and would put his neck between them, etc., as is stated in Pesikta of the Haftarah Divrei Yirmiyahu (p. 113). For it is impossible to say that Nebuzaradan put him in chains since Nebuchadnezzar commanded him, “Do him no harm” (above 39:12). <b>in fetters</b> Heb. באזקים, ceps in French, fetters.</html>
<html><b>“The Lord your God spoke”</b> Why are you troubled about them? Did you not prophesy to them and they did not hearken? As it is stated in Pesikta d’Rav Kahana (p. 113a).</html>
<html><b>I have released you</b> Heb. פתחתיך, an expression related to “And he untied (ויפתח) the camels” (Gen. 24.32). And so did Jonathan render: Behold, now I have untied you. But Menahem (p. 147) interpreted all of them as an expression of actual opening (פתיחה).</html>
<html><b>But he would still not return</b> Despite this, he did not wish to return. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “And return to Gedaliah,” who was appointed over the remaining poor people. They, too, need you, like the rest of the exiles. <b>an allowance and a present</b> Heb. ארחה ומשאת. Jonathan renders: מתנן וּנבזבן.</html>
<html><b>and dried figs</b> Heb. וקיץ, dried figs.</html>