The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, saying,
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While I was still in prison in the courtyard, the Lord's message came to me again.
2 These are the words of the Lord, who is doing it, the Lord who is forming it, to make it certain; the Lord is his name;
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The Lord, who made the earth, who formed it and set it in place, spoke to me. He whose name is the Lord said,
3 Let your cry come to me, and I will give you an answer, and let you see great things and secret things of which you had no knowledge.
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"Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things that you know nothing about.
4 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said about the houses of this town and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been broken down to make earthworks and ...;
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I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say that the houses of Jerusalem and the royal palace of Judah will be torn down as a result of the siege and the attack.
5 ... and to make them full of the dead bodies of men whom I have put to death in my wrath and in my passion, and because of whose evil-doing I have kept my face covered from this town.
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Some will fight against the Babylonians, who will fill the houses with the corpses of those whom I am going to strike down in my anger and fury. I have turned away from this city because of the evil things that its people have done.
6 See, I will make it healthy and well again, I will even make them well; I will let them see peace and good faith in full measure.
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But I will heal this city and its people and restore them to health. I will show them abundant peace and security.
7 And I will let the fate of Judah and of Israel be changed, building them up as at first.
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I will make Judah and Israel prosperous, and I will rebuild them as they were before.
8 And I will make them clean from all their sin, with which they have been sinning against me; I will have forgiveness for all their sins, with which they have been sinning against me, and with which they have done evil against me.
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I will purify them from the sins that they have committed against me, and I will forgive their sins and their rebellion.
9 And this town will be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth, who, hearing of all the good which I am doing for them, will be shaking with fear because of all the good and the peace which I am doing for it.
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Jerusalem will be a source of joy, honor, and pride to me; and every nation in the world will fear and tremble when they hear about the good things that I do for the people of Jerusalem and about the prosperity that I bring to the city."
10 This is what the Lord has said: There will again be sounding in this place, of which you say, It is a waste, without man and without beast; even in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem which are waste and unpeopled, without man and without beast,
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The Lord said, "People are saying that this place is like a desert, that it has no people or animals living in it. And they are right; the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are empty; no people or animals live there. But in these places you will hear again
11 Happy sounds, the voice of joy, the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who say, Give praise to the Lord of armies, for the Lord is good, for his mercy is unchanging for ever: the voices of those who go with praise into the house of the Lord. For I will let the land come back to its first condition, says the Lord.
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the shouts of gladness and joy and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. You will hear people sing as they bring thank offerings to my Temple; they will say, "Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, because he is good and his love is eternal.' I will make this land as prosperous as it was before. I, the Lord, have spoken."
12 This is what the Lord of armies has said: Again there will be in this place, which is a waste, without man and without beast, and in all its towns, a resting-place where the keepers of sheep will make their flocks take rest.
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The Lord Almighty said, "In this land that is like a desert and where no people or animals live, there will once again be pastures where shepherds can take their sheep.
13 In the towns of the hill-country, in the towns of the lowland, and in the towns of the South and in the land of Benjamin and in the country round Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, the flocks will again go under the hand of him who is numbering them, says the Lord.
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In the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, shepherds will once again count their sheep. I, the Lord, have spoken."
14 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give effect to the good word which I have said about the people of Israel and the people of Judah.
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The Lord said, "The time is coming when I will fulfill the promise that I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 In those days and at that time, I will let a Branch of righteousness come up for David; and he will be a judge in righteousness in the land.
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At that time I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will do what is right and just throughout the land.
16 In those days, Judah will have salvation and Jerusalem will be safe: and this is the name which will be given to her: The Lord is our righteousness.
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The people of Judah and of Jerusalem will be rescued and will live in safety. The city will be called "The Lord Our Salvation.'
17 For the Lord has said, David will never be without a man to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel;
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I, the Lord, promise that there will always be a descendant of David to be king of Israel
18 And the priests and the Levites will never be without a man to come before me, offering burned offerings and perfumes and meal offerings and offerings of beasts at all times.
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and that there will always be priests from the tribe of Levi to serve me and to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrifices."
19 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
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The Lord said to me,
20 The Lord has said: If it is possible for my agreement of the day and the night to be broken, so that day and night no longer come at their fixed times,
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"I have made a covenant with the day and with the night, so that they always come at their proper times; and that covenant can never be broken.
21 Then my agreement with my servant David may be broken, so that he no longer has a son to take his place on the seat of the kingdom; and my agreement with the Levites, the priests, my servants.
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In the same way I have made a covenant with my servant David that he would always have a descendant to be king, and I have made a covenant with the priests from the tribe of Levi that they would always serve me; and those covenants can never be broken.
22 As it is not possible for the army of heaven to be numbered, or the sand of the sea measured, so will I make the seed of my servant David, and the Levites my servants.
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I will increase the number of descendants of my servant David and the number of priests from the tribe of Levi, so that it will be as impossible to count them as it is to count the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore."
23 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
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The Lord said to me,
24 Have you taken note of what these people have said, The two families, which the Lord took for himself, he has given up? This they say, looking down on my people as being, in their eyes, no longer a nation.
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"Have you noticed how people are saying that I have rejected Israel and Judah, the two families that I chose? And so they look with contempt on my people and no longer consider them a nation.
25 The Lord has said, If I have not made day and night, and if the limits of heaven and earth have not been fixed by me,
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But I, the Lord, have a covenant with day and night, and I have made the laws that control earth and sky.
26 Then I will give up caring for the seed of Jacob and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will let their fate be changed and will have mercy on them.
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And just as surely as I have done this, so I will maintain my covenant with Jacob's descendants and with my servant David. I will choose one of David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will be merciful to my people and make them prosperous again."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.