9. Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.
10. “This is what the lord says: You have said, ‘This is a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.’ Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah’s other towns, there will be heard once more
11. the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the lord. They will sing,‘Give thanks to the lord of Heaven’s Armies,for the lord is good.His faithful love endures forever!’For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the lord.
12. “This is what the lord of Heaven’s Armies says: This land—though it is now desolate and has no people and animals—will once more have pastures where shepherds can lead their flocks.
13. Once again shepherds will count their flocks in the towns of the hill country, the foothills of Judah, the Negev, the land of Benjamin, the vicinity of Jerusalem, and all the towns of Judah. I, the lord, have spoken!
14. “The day will come, says the lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them.
15. “In those days and at that timeI will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line.He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
16. In that day Judah will be saved,and Jerusalem will live in safety.And this will be its name:‘The lord Is Our Righteousness.’
17. For this is what the lord says: David will have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever.
18. And there will always be Levitical priests to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices to me.”
19. Then this message came to Jeremiah from the lord:
20. “This is what the lord says: If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that one does not follow the other,
21. only then will my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me.
22. And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.”
23. The lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
24. “Have you noticed what people are saying?—‘The lord chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation.
25. But this is what the lord says: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws that govern night and day, earth and sky.
26. I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.”