I will save you where you are
1The Lord talked to Jeremiah and said to him. 2‘The Lord, the God of Israel, said: “You must write down everything that I tell you in a book. 3Because the time will come when I will be good to the people of Israel and Judah again. I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and where they went to live.” ’
4Here are the words that the Lord says to Israel and Judah. 5The Lord says: ‘The people of Israel and Judah will become afraid. They will fear and have no peace.
6You can look anywhere and ask anyone: “Can a man have a baby?” No, he can not. But why do I see every man standing with his hands on his stomach like a woman who is having a baby? Why are their faces pale? 7The Israelites are suffering very badly. There has never been a day when they have suffered so much. But I will save them.’
8The Lord who rules over all says: ‘On that day I will take the yokes from their necks and I will break the ropes that have tied them. They will not have to work for other people anymore. 9They will serve the Lord their God and they will also serve David their king. Yes, I will send him to rule over them.’
10The Lord says: ‘And you, my servants,
descendants of Jacob, don't be afraid.
Israelites, don't fear,
because I will save you where you are.
I will save your descendants
from the land where they are prisoners.
The descendants of Jacob
will come back and they will be safe
and no one will make them afraid.’
11The Lord says:
‘Yes, I am with you to save you.
I will make all the nations disappear,
all the nations where you were,
to whom you went when
I chased you away.
But I will not make you disappear.
I will punish you fairly. I must do it,
because I can not say that you are innocent.’
12Yes, the Lord says:
‘Your wounds will not heal.
You are hurt very badly.
13Everyone says that you are guilty.
No one wants to help you,
and your wounds don't get better.
14Everyone who has loved you
has forgotten about you, and they don't care about you.
Because I have beaten you like an enemy,
and I have punished you cruelly
because of all the things that you did wrong,
and because of all your sins.
15Why do you shout
and ask someone to help you?
Why don't you get better?
I have done these things to you
because you have done
so many wrong things. You are guilty
because you have done so many sins.
16There are people who have eaten you,
and have destroyed you,
but I will send other people to destroy them.
Other people will catch all your enemies
and take them away from their land.
Other people will take everything
from the people who took your things.
I will take away all the people
who have taken you away.’
17The Lord says: ‘Yes, I will make
new skin grow over your wounds
and I will heal you where you were hurt.’
They will build the city again
The Lord says:
‘Yes, people of Zion, they say
all the people have left you alone,
and no one cares for you.
18But I will be good to you again,
to the tents of the people of Jacob.
I will feel sorry for the Israelites
and their families again.
They will build the city on the hill
that is only a heap of rocks now,
and the palace will be built
where it was before.
19They will sing and laugh
and everyone will hear them.
There will be more and more of them
and they will not be a small nation.
I will make people honour them
and they will be important.
20The people of Jerusalem will be
as they were before,
and they will all serve Me.
I will punish all the people
who want to oppress them.
21One of them will become their leader
and he will rule over them.
When I call him to come to Me,
he will come and
stand in front of Me to serve Me.
Because no one may come to Me
if I have not told him to come.’
This is what the Lord says.
22‘Yes, you will be my people
and I will be your God.
23You must know this:
The Lord will send a storm wind
that will blow away all the people
who are doing things that are wrong.
24The Lord is angry with them,
and He will continue to be angry
until He has punished them
like He has decided to do.
You will understand this later.’
