1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2. Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write you all the words that I have spoken unto you in a book.
3. For, lo, the days come, says the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of 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.
4. And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5. For thus says the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6. Ask you 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?
7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
8. For 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 enslave them:
9. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
10. Therefore fear you not, O my servant Jacob, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save you from afar, and your descendants from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
11. 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 will I not make a full end of you: but I will correct you in just measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished.
12. For thus says the LORD, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound is grievous.