1. The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said,
2. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Write in a book everything that I tell you.
3. The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it.”
4. This is the message that the Lord spoke about Israel and Judah:
5. “This is what the Lord says:“We hear cries of fear, cries of panic, not cries of peace.
6. Ask now, and see: Can a man give birth to a child?Why, then, do I see every strong man holding his stomach in painlike a woman giving birth to a child?Why has every face turned pale?
7. How terrible that day will be!There will be no other day like it.It will be a time of calamity for the descendants of Jacob,but they will be rescued from it.
8. “On that day,” declares the Lord of Armies, “I will break the yokes off your necks and tear off your ropes. Foreigners will no longer make you serve them.
9. You will serve the Lord your God and David your king. I will establish him for you.