1The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the court of the Guard, saying:2Thus says the LORD who makes it, the LORD who forms it to establish it; the LORD is his name.3Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things that you have not known.4For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for siege mounds and for the sword,5coming to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I struck down in my anger and in my wrath, and from whom I hid my face because of all their evil.6Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and I will rebuild them as they were at first.8I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they sinned against me and by which they transgressed against me.9This city will become to me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth that hear of all the good that I do for them; they will fear and tremble because of all the prosperity and peace that I provide for it.10Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, It is desolate, without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that lie waste without man or inhabitant or beast,11there shall again be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast love endures forever, as they bring thank offerings into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD.12Thus says the LORD of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks.13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.14Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the good word that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.17For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,18and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices continually.19The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:20Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time,21then my covenant with David my servant may also be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests, my ministers, may be broken.22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.23The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:24Have you not observed what this people are saying: The two families that the LORD chose he has rejected, and they despise my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight?25Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,26then I will also reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not take from his offspring rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.