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1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

2 Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name;

3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

4 For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;

5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

10 Thus saith the Lord; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

11 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, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord.

12 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the Lord.

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

15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

17 For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

19 And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,

20 Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

23 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

25 Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

<html><b>confined</b> in the prison.</html>

<html><b>So said the Lord, the Maker thereof</b> Who makes this.</html>

<html><b>Call Me and I will answer you</b> to inform you of future events. <b>and strong things</b> laid up in My heart to perform them.</html>

<html><b>that are demolished for the mounds</b> To make mounds of them, mounds piled up high which the city dwellers build to ascend the mounds to wage war from upon them with the Chaldeans. <b>and for the sword</b> To strengthen the wall against those who slay with the sword.</html>

<html><b>and to fill them with the corpses of the men</b> And the houses that they demolished they make into graves for the corpses of those killed within the city. <b>and that which I have hidden, etc.</b> So said the Lord: Behold, I will bring it, etc.</html>

<html><b>a greeting of peace</b> a blessing (salud in O.F., salut in modern French), a greeting.</html>

<html><b>a dwelling of shepherds</b> Heb. נְוֵה רֹעִים.</html>

<html><b>flocks shall again pass, etc.</b> Israel will come and go under the hands of a king who walks at their head.</html>

<html><b>There shall not be cut off</b> permanently, but if it is discontinued, it will ultimately be reinstated.</html>

<html><b>for all time</b> There shall not be cut off from them seed fit to offer up a burnt-offering or to burn a meal-offering.</html>

<html><b>If you break My covenant with the day</b> If you can break My covenant that I formed with the day and with the night to be in their time, which I formed with Noah and his sons, “And day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22).</html>

<html><b>The two families</b> Viz. royalty and the priesthood. <b>and they make My people despise</b> And with these words, they cause My people to despise being a nation to Me. <b>before them</b> According to these words of theirs, that they teach them to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, will no longer return from His anger, and repentance will not avail them.</html>

<html><b>If not My covenant, etc.</b> If it is possible that the covenant that I formed with day and night to be in their time should be abolished, and if it is possible for the statutes of heaven and earth to be abolished as though I had not placed them, also the seed of Jacob, etc. Our Sages, however, expounded it in regard to the covenant of the Torah and circumcision, to derive from here that because of them heaven and earth were created. But this Midrash does not fit the sequence of the verses.</html>