Chapter 40

¹ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, when he was yet bound in the court of the prison, saying,

² Thus saith the Lord, who made the earth and formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name; ³ Cry to me, and I will answer thee, and I will declare to thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. ⁴ For thus saith the Lord concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the

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houses of the king of Juda, which have been pulled down ¹for mounds and fortifications, ⁵ to fight against the Chaldeans, and to fill it with the corpses of men, whom I smote in mine anger and my wrath, and turned away my face from them, for all their wickedness: ⁶ Behold, I bring upon her healing and cure, and I will show myself to them, and will heal her, and make both peace and ²security.

⁷ And I will turn the captivity of Juda, and the captivity of Israel, and will build them, even as before. ⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and will not remember their sins, whereby they have sinned against me, and revolted from me. ⁹ And it shall be for joy and praise, and for glory to all the people of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I will do: and they shall fear and be provoked for all the good things and for all the peace which I will bring upon them.

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord; There shall yet be heard in this place, of which ye say, it is destitute of men and cattle, in the cities of Juda, and ³in the streets of Jerusalem, the places that have been made desolate for want of men and cattle, ¹¹ the voice of gladness, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of men saying, Give thanks to the Lord Almighty: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endures fore ever: and they shall bring gifts into the house of the Lord; for I will turn all the captivity of that land as before, said the Lord. ¹² Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet be in this place, that is desert for want of man and beast, in all the cities thereof, resting-places for shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ¹³ In the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the cities round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda, flocks shall yet pass under the hand of him that numbers them, saith the Lord.