Jeremiah 30

Restoration of Israel

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. ³The 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 ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.”

⁴These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: ⁵“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘Cries of fear are heard—

terror, not peace.

⁶Ask and see:

Can a man bear children?

Then why do I see every strong man

with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,

every face turned deathly pale?

⁷How awful that day will be!

No other will be like it.

It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,

but he will be saved out of it.

⁸“ ‘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.

⁹Instead, they will serve the Lord their God

and David their king,

whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰“ ‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;

do not be dismayed, 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.

¹¹I 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 in due measure;

I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

¹²“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘Your wound is incurable,

your injury beyond healing.

¹³There is no one to plead your cause,

no remedy for your sore,

no healing for you.

¹⁴All 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.

¹⁵Why do you cry out over your wound,

your pain that has no cure?

Because of your great guilt and many sins

I have done these things to you.

¹⁶“ ‘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.

¹⁷But 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.’

¹⁸“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,

and the palace will stand in its proper place.

¹⁹From them will come songs of thanksgiving

and the sound of rejoicing.

I will add to their numbers,

and they will not be decreased;

I will bring them honor,

and they will not be disdained.

²⁰Their children will be as in days of old,

and their community will be established before me;

I will punish all who oppress them.

²¹Their 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.

²²‘So you will be my people,

and I will be your God.’ ”

²³See, the storm of the Lord

will burst out in wrath,

a driving wind swirling down

on the heads of the wicked.

²⁴The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he fully accomplishes

the purposes of his heart.

In days to come

you will understand this.