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Restoration Promised for Israel and Judah

30The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. ³For the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors and they shall take possession of it.

4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
⁵ Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
   of terror, and no peace.
⁶ Ask now, and see,
   can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
   with his hands on his loins like a woman in labour?
   Why has every face turned pale?
⁷ Alas! that day is so great
   there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
   yet he shall be rescued from it.

8 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break the yoke from off his^* neck, and I will burst his^* bonds, and strangers shall no more make a servant of him. ⁹But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰ But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord,
   and do not be dismayed, O Israel;
for I am going to save you from far away,
   and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
   and no one shall make him afraid.
¹¹ For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you;
I will make an end of all the nations
   among which I scattered you,
   but of you I will not make an end.
I will chastise you in just measure,
   and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹² For thus says the Lord:
Your hurt is incurable,
   your wound is grievous.
¹³ There is no one to uphold your cause,
   no medicine for your wound,
   no healing for you.
¹⁴ All your lovers have forgotten you;
   they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
   the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
   because your sins are so numerous.
¹⁵ Why do you cry out over your hurt?
   Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
   because your sins are so numerous,
   I have done these things to you.
¹⁶ Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
   and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
those who plunder you shall be plundered,
   and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
¹⁷ For I will restore health to you,
   and your wounds I will heal,

says the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast:
   ‘It is Zion; no one cares for her!’

¹⁸ As I live, says the King,
   whose name is the Lord of hosts,
one is coming
   like Tabor among the mountains,
   and like Carmel by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your bags for exile,
   sheltered daughter Egypt!
For Memphis shall become a waste,
   a ruin, without inhabitant.

²⁰ A beautiful heifer is Egypt—
   a gadfly from the north lights upon her.
²¹ Even her mercenaries in her midst
   are like fatted calves;
they too have turned and fled together,
   they did not stand;
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
   the time of their punishment.

²² She makes a sound like a snake gliding away;
   for her enemies march in force,
and come against her with axes,
   like those who fell trees.
²³ They shall cut down her forest,

says the Lord,
   though it is impenetrable,
because they are more numerous
   than locusts;
   they are without number.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt shall be put to shame;
   she shall be handed over to a people from the north.

25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: See, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶I will hand them over to those who seek their life, to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and his officers. Afterwards Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord.

God Will Save Israel

²⁷ But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob,
   and do not be dismayed, O Israel;
for I am going to save you from far away,
   and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
   and no one shall make him afraid.
²⁸ As for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob,

says the Lord,
   for I am with you.
I will make an end of all the nations
   among which I have banished you,
   but I will not make an end of you!
I will chastise you in just measure,
   and I will by no means leave you unpunished.