The Prophecy Of Restoration

Of

Israel

By

Prophet Jeremiah

Restoration Of Israel And Judah

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, "Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: 'Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,' says the Lord. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.'"

Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.

"For thus says the Lord:

'We have heard a voice of trembling,

Of fear, and not of peace.

Ask now, and see,

Whether a man is ever in labour with child?

So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins

Like a woman in labour,

And all faces turned pale?

Alas! For that day is great,

So that none is like it;

And it is the time of Jacob's trouble,

But he shall be saved out of it.

'For it shall come to pass in that day,'

Says the Lord of hosts,

'That I will break his yoke from your neck,

And will burst your bonds;

Foreigners shall no more enslave them.

But they shall serve the Lord their God,

And David their king,

And David their king,

Whom I will raise up for them.

'Therefore do not fear,

O My servant Jacob,' says the Lord,

'Nor be dismayed, O Israel;

For behold, I will save you from afar,

And your seed from the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,

And no one shall make him afraid.

For I am with you,' says the Lord, 'to save you;

Though I make a full end of all nations

where I have scattered you,

Yet I will not make a complete end of you.

But I will correct you in justice,

And will not let you go altogether unpunished.'

"Thus says the Lord:

'Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob's tents,

And have mercy on his dwelling places;

The city shall be built upon its own mound,

And the palace shall remain according to its own plan.

Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving

And the voice of those who make merry;

I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish;

I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

Their children also shall be as before,

And their congregation shall be established before Me;

And I will punish all who oppress them.

Their nobles shall be from among them,

And their governor shall come from their midst;

Then I will cause him to draw near,

And he shall approach Me;

For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?' says the Lord.

'You shall be My people,

And I will be your God.'"

The Remnant Of Israel Saved

"At the same time," says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."

Thus says the Lord:

"The people who survived the sword

Found grace in the wilderness —

Israel, when I went to give him rest."

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;

Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,

O virgin of Israel!

You shall again be adorned with your tambourines,

And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;

The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.

For there shall be a day

When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,

'Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

To the Lord our God.'"

Sing With Gladness

For thus says the Lord:

"Sing with gladness for Jacob,

And shout among the chief of the nations;

Proclaim, give praise, and say,

'O Lord, save Your people,

The remnant of Israel!'

Behold, I will bring them from the north country,

And gather them from the ends of the earth,

Among them the blind and the lame,

The woman with child

And the one who labors with child, together;

A great throng shall return there.

They shall come with weeping,

And with supplications I will lead them.

I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters,

In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;

For I am a Father to Israel,

And Ephraim is My firstborn.

"Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

And declare it in the isles afar off, and say,

'He who scattered Israel will gather him,

And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.'

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,

And ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,

Streaming to the goodness of the Lord —

For wheat and new wine and oil,

For the young of the flock and the herd;

Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden,

And they shall sorrow no more at all.

"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,

And the young men and the old, together;

For I will turn their mourning to joy,

Will comfort them,

And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,

And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord."

Jeremiah Buys A Field

For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.

And Jeremiah said, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, "Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it."' Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, 'Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the money — seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

"Then I charged Baruch before them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days." For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land."'

God's Assurance Of The People's Return

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; because the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,' says the Lord. 'For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger — they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'

"Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.'

"For thus says the Lord: ‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, "It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans." Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,' says the Lord."

Excellence Of The Restored Nation

Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, "Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it(the Lord is His name): 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

"For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 'They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city.

“Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.'

"Thus says the Lord: 'Again there shall be heard in this place — of which you say, "It is desolate, without man and without beast" — in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 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 will say:

"Praise the Lord of hosts,

For the Lord is good,

For His mercy endures forever" —

and the voice of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.

For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,' says the Lord.

"Thus says the Lord of Hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,' says the Lord.

'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord,

'that I will perform that good thing

which I have promised to the house of Israel

and to the house of Judah:

'In those days and at that time

I will cause to grow up to David

A Branch of righteousness;

He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In those days Judah will be saved,

And Jerusalem will dwell safely.

And this is the name by which she will be called:

The Lord Our Righteousness.'

"For thus says the Lord: 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'"