Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu from the LORD, saying,
1
This is the Message Jeremiah received from God:
2 Thus speaks the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, saying, Write you all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.
2
"God's Message, the God of Israel: 'Write everything I tell you in a book.
3 For, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Yisra'el and Yehudah, says the LORD; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
3
"'Look. The time is coming when I will turn everything around for my people, both Israel and Judah. I, God, say so. I'll bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they'll take up ownership again.'"
4 These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Yisra'el and concerning Yehudah.
4
This is the way God put it to Israel and Judah:
5 For thus says the LORD: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of shalom.
5
"God's Message: "'Cries of panic are being heard. The peace has been shattered.
6 Ask now, and see whether a man does travail with child: why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
6
Ask around! Look around! Can men bear babies? So why do I see all these he-men holding their bellies like women in labor, Faces contorted, pale as death?
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Ya`akov's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
7
The blackest of days, no day like it ever! A time of deep trouble for Jacob - but he'll come out of it alive.
8 It shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of Hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondservant;
8
"'And then I'll enter the darkness. I'll break the yoke from their necks, Cut them loose from the harness. No more slave labor to foreigners!
9 but they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.
9
They'll serve their God and the David-King I'll establish for them.
10 Therefore don't you be afraid, O Ya`akov my servant, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, Yisra'el: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Ya`akov shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
10
"'So fear no more, Jacob, dear servant. Don't despair, Israel. Look up! I'll save you out of faraway places, I'll bring your children back from exile. Jacob will come back and find life good, safe and secure.
11 For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
11
I'll be with you. I'll save you. I'll finish off all the godless nations Among which I've scattered you, but I won't finish you off. I'll punish you, but fairly. I won't send you off with just a slap on the wrist.'
12 For thus says the LORD, Your hurt is incurable, and your wound grievous.
12
"This is God's Message: "'You're a burned-out case, as good as dead.
13 There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines.
13
Everyone has given up on you. You're hopeless.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you; they don't seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
14
All your fair-weather friends have skipped town without giving you a second thought. But I delivered the knockout blow, a punishment you will never forget, Because of the enormity of your guilt, the endless list of your sins.
15 Why cry you for your hurt? your pain is incurable: for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you.
15
So why all this self-pity, licking your wounds? You deserve all this, and more. Because of the enormity of your guilt, the endless list of your sins, I've done all this to you.
16 Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey.
16
"'Everyone who hurt you will be hurt; your enemies will end up as slaves. Your plunderers will be plundered; your looters will become loot.
17 For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the LORD; because they have called you an outcast, [saying], It is Tziyon, whom no man seeks after.
17
As for you, I'll come with healing, curing the incurable, Because they all gave up on you and dismissed you as hopeless - that good-for-nothing Zion.'
18 Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Ya`akov's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner.
18
"Again, God's Message: "'I'll turn things around for Jacob. I'll compassionately come in and rebuild homes. The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations; the mansions will be splendid again.
19 Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
19
Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows; laughter will spill through the doors. Things will get better and better. Depression days are over. They'll thrive, they'll flourish. The days of contempt will be over.
20 Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all who oppress them.
20
They'll look forward to having children again, to being a community in which I take pride. I'll punish anyone who hurts them,
21 Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me: for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me? says the LORD.
21
and their prince will come from their own ranks. One of their own people shall be their leader. Their ruler will come from their own ranks. I'll grant him free and easy access to me. Would anyone dare to do that on his own, to enter my presence uninvited?' God's Decree.
22 You shall be my people, and I will be your God.
22
"'And that's it: You'll be my very own people, I'll be your very own God.'"
23 Behold, the tempest of the LORD, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst on the head of the wicked.
23
Look out! God's hurricane is let loose, his hurricane blast, Spinning the heads of the wicked like dust devils!
24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he has executed, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it.
24
God's raging anger won't let up Until he's made a clean sweep completing the job he began. When the job's done you'll see it's been well done.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.