Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Yirmeyahu the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
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While Jeremiah was still locked up in jail, a second Message from God was given to him:
2 Thus says the LORD who does it, the LORD who forms it to establish it; the LORD is his name:
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"This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God:
3 Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know.
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'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.'
4 For thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Yehudah, which are broken down [to make a defense] against the mounds and against the sword;
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"This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what's going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war
5 while [men] come to fight with the Kasdim, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city:
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and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger - about all that's happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.
6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of shalom and truth.
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"But now take another look. I'm going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I'm going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings.
7 I will cause the captivity of Yehudah and the captivity of Yisra'el to return, and will build them, as at the first.
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I'll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I'll build everything back as good as new.
8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
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I'll scrub them clean from the dirt they've done against me. I'll forgive everything they've done wrong, forgive all their rebellions.
9 [This city] shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the eretz, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the shalom that I procure to it.
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And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They'll get reports on all the good I'm doing for her. They'll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.
10 Thus says the LORD: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, whereof you say, It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Yehudah, and in the streets of Yerushalayim, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,
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"Yes, God's Message: 'You're going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, "A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here."
11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good, for his lovingkindness endures forever; [and of them] who bring [sacrifices of] thanksgiving into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says the LORD.
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But the time is coming when you're going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, "Thank God-of-the-Angel-Armies. He's so good! His love never quits," as they bring thank offerings into God's Temple. I'll restore everything that was lost in this land. I'll make everything as good as new.' I, God, say so.
12 Thus says the LORD of Hosts: Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all the cities of it, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
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"God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: 'This coming desolation, unfit for even a stray dog, is once again going to become a pasture for shepherds who care for their flocks.
13 In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Binyamin, and in the places about Yerushalayim, and in the cities of Yehudah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who numbers them, says the LORD.
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You'll see flocks everywhere - in the mountains around the towns of the Shephelah and Negev, all over the territory of Benjamin, around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah - flocks under the care of shepherds who keep track of each sheep.' God says so. A Fresh and True Shoot from the David-Tree
14 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Yisra'el and concerning the house of Yehudah.
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"'Watch for this: The time is coming' - God's Decree - 'when I will keep the promise I made to the families of Israel and Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
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When that time comes, I will make a fresh and true shoot sprout from the David-Tree. He will run this country honestly and fairly. He will set things right.
16 In those days shall Yehudah be saved, and Yerushalayim shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] whereby she shall be called: the LORD our righteousness.
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That's when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem live in safety. The motto for the city will be, "God Has Set Things Right for Us."
17 For thus says the LORD: David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Yisra'el;
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God has made it clear that there will always be a descendant of David ruling the people of Israel
18 neither shall the Kohanim the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
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and that there will always be Levitical priests on hand to offer burnt offerings, present grain offerings, and carry on the sacrificial worship in my honor.'"
19 The word of the LORD came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
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God's Message to Jeremiah:
20 Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;
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"God says, 'If my covenant with day and my covenant with night ever fell apart so that day and night became haphazard and you never knew which was coming and when,
21 then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the Kohanim, my ministers.
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then and only then would my covenant with my servant David fall apart and his descendants no longer rule. The same goes for the Levitical priests who serve me.
22 As the host of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.
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Just as you can't number the stars in the sky nor measure the sand on the seashore, neither will you be able to account for the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve me.'"
23 The word of the LORD came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
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God's Message to Jeremiah:
24 Don't you consider what this people has spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD did choose, he has cast them off? thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
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"Have you heard the saying that's making the rounds: 'The two families God chose, Israel and Judah, he disowned'? And have you noticed that my people are treated with contempt, with rumors afoot that there's nothing to them anymore?
25 Thus says the LORD: If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and eretz;
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"Well, here's God's response: 'If my covenant with day and night wasn't in working order, if sky and earth weren't functioning the way I set them going,
26 then will I also cast away the seed of Ya`akov, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya`akov: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.
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then, but only then, you might think I had disowned the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David, and that I wouldn't set up any of David's descendants over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as it is, I will give them back everything they've lost. The last word is, I will have mercy on them.'"
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.