The Berean Pursuit
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.'?"
These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah. Yes, this is what the LORD says:
"A cry of panic is heard-
a cry of terror, not of peace.
Ask now, and see:
Can a male give birth?
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor
and every face turned pale?
How awful that day will be!
None will be like it!
It is the time of Jacob's distress,
but he will be saved out of it.
On that day,
declares the LORD of Hosts,
I will break the yoke off their necks
and tear off their bonds,
and no longer will strangers enslave them.
Instead, they will serve the LORD their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.
As for you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid,
declares the LORD,
and do not be dismayed,
O Israel.
For I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return to quiet and ease,
with no one to make him afraid.
For I am with you to save you,
declares the LORD.
Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you,
I will not completely destroy you.
Yet I will discipline you justly,
and will by no means leave you unpunished."
For this is what the LORD says:
"Your injury is incurable;
your wound is grievous.
There is no one to plead your cause,
no remedy for your sores,
no recovery for you.
All your lovers have forgotten you;
they no longer seek you,
for I have struck you as an enemy would,
with the discipline of someone cruel,
because of your great iniquity
and your numerous sins.
Why do you cry out over your wound?
Your pain has no cure!
Because of your great iniquity
and your numerous sins
I have done these things to you.
Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured,
and all your adversaries-every one of them-
will go off into exile.
Those who plundered you will be plundered,
and all who raided you will be raided.
But I will restore your health and heal your wounds,
declares the LORD,
because they call you an outcast,
Zion, for whom no one cares."
This is what the LORD says:
"I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents
and have compassion on his dwellings.
And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins,
and the palace will stand in its rightful place.
Thanksgiving will proceed from them,
a sound of celebration.
I will multiply them, and they will not be decreased;
I will honor them, and they will not be belittled.
Their children will be as in days of old,
and their congregation will be established before Me;
and I will punish all their oppressors.
Their leader will be one of their own,
and their ruler will arise from their midst.
And I will bring him near, and he will approach Me,
for who would dare on his own to approach Me?"
declares the LORD.
"And you will be My people,
and I will be your God."
Behold, the storm of the LORD
has gone out with fury,
a whirlwind swirling down
upon the heads of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart.
In the days to come
you will understand this.
"At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people."
This is what the LORD says:
"The people who survived the sword
found favor in the wilderness
when Israel went to find rest."
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt,
O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out in joyful dancing.
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.
For there will be a day when watchmen will call out
on the hills of Ephraim,
'Arise, let us go up to Zion,
to the LORD our God!'?"
For this is what the LORD says:
"Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations!
Make your praises heard, and say,
'O LORD, save Your people,
the remnant of Israel!'
Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
including the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor.
They will return as a great assembly!
They will come with weeping,
and by their supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk beside streams of waters,
on a level path where they will not stumble.
For I am Israel's Father,
and Ephraim is My firstborn."
Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD,
and proclaim it in distant coastlands:
"The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them
as a shepherd keeps his flock.
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD-
the grain, new wine, and oil,
and the young of the flocks and herds.
Their life will be like a well-watered garden,
and never again will they languish.
Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly,
and will fill My people with My goodness,"
declares the LORD.
This is what the LORD says:
"A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."
This is what the LORD says:
"Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come,
declares the LORD.
Then your children will return
from the land of the enemy.
So there is hope for your future,
declares the LORD,
and your children will return
to their own land.
I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning:
'You disciplined me severely,
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, that I may return,
for You are the LORD my God.
After I returned, I repented;
and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me,
a delightful child?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him,"
declares the LORD.
"Set up the roadmarks,
establish the signposts.
Keep the highway in mind,
the road you have traveled.
Return, O Virgin Israel,
return to these cities of yours.
How long will you wander,
O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing in the land-
a woman will shelter a man."
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: 'May the LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.' And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks, for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak."
At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast. Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD.
"In those days, it will no longer be said:
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the teeth of the children are set on edge.'
Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their fathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt-
a covenant they broke,
though I was a husband to them,"
declares the LORD.
"But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the LORD.
I will put My law in their minds
and inscribe it on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.
For I will forgive their iniquities
and will remember their sins no more."
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-the LORD of Hosts is His name:
"Only if this fixed order departed from My presence,
declares the LORD,
would Israel's descendants ever cease
to be a nation before Me."
This is what the LORD says:
"Only if the heavens above could be measured
and the foundations of the earth below searched out
would I reject all of Israel's descendants
because of all they have done,"
declares the LORD.
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished."
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: "Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, 'Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hands of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.'?"
Jeremiah replied, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Behold! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, 'Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.' Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and urged me, 'Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.'?"
Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. Then I took the deed of purchase-the sealed copy with its terms and conditions, as well as the open copy- and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement and all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
In their sight I instructed Baruch, "This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds-both the sealed copy and the open copy of the deed of purchase-and put them in a clay jar to preserve them for a long time. For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land."
After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD: "Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
You show loving devotion to thousands but lay the iniquity of the fathers into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Hosts, the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and You do so to this very day, both in Israel and among all mankind. And You have made a name for Yourself, as is the case to this day.
You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. You gave them this land that You had sworn to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
They came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law. They failed to perform all that You commanded them to do, and so You have brought upon them all this disaster. See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
Yet You, O Lord GOD, have said to me, 'Buy for yourself the field with silver and call in witnesses, even though the city has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans!'?"
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.
For this city has aroused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. Therefore I will remove it from My presence because of all the evil the children of Israel and of Judah have done to provoke Me to anger-they, their kings, their officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech-something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.
Now therefore, about this city of which you say, 'It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and famine and plague,' this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety. They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me. Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them. And fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, 'It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.' Fields will be purchased with silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah-the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev-because I will restore them from captivity, declares the LORD."
While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: "Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it, the LORD is His name: Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword: The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill those places with the corpses of the men I will strike down in My anger and in My wrath. I have hidden My face from this city because of all its wickedness.
Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times. And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.
So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.
This is what the LORD says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted-inhabited by neither man nor beast-there will be heard again the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying:
'Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts,
for the LORD is good;
His loving devotion endures forever.'
For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: In this desolate place, without man or beast, and in all its cities, there will once more be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.
Behold, the days are coming,
declares the LORD,
when I will fulfill the gracious promise
that I have spoken
to the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
In those days and at that time
I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch,
and He will administer justice
and righteousness in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved,
and Jerusalem will dwell securely,
and this is the name by which it will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.
For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices."
And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne. As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me."
Moreover, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "Have you not noticed what these people are saying: 'The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen'? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them."