if my people, who belong to me, ¹  humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, ²  and repudiate their sinful practices, ³  then I will respond ⁴  from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. ⁵ 

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he gave this message to Shemaiah: ¹  “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon. ²  My anger will not be unleashed against ³  Jerusalem through ⁴  Shishak.

I have asked the Lord for one thing – this is what I desire! I want to live ¹  in the Lord’s house ²  all the days of my life, so I can gaze at the splendor ³  of the Lord and contemplate in his temple.

So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, ¹  who lives securely, who says to herself, ²  ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ³  I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.’ ⁴ 

“I thought to myself, ¹  ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ²  What a joy it would be for me to give ³  you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁴  I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁵  and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁶ 

But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through ¹  the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out.’”

In this place I will thwart ¹  the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the sword ²  at the hands of their enemies. ³  I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat.

So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ¹  Do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from a faraway land where you are captives. ²  The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ³ 

“People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ¹  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ²  says the Lord. “For ³  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed! ¹  I will indeed pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the Lord replies in response to you. ²  I will not keep anything back from you.”

¹ “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, ²  do not be afraid; do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from the faraway lands where you are captives. ³  The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them.

I, the Lord, tell ¹  you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servant, for I am with you. Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ² 

Their camels will be taken as plunder. Their vast herds will be taken as spoil. I will scatter to the four winds those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples. ¹  I will bring disaster against them from every direction,” says the Lord. ² 

I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies, who are seeking to kill them. I will vent my fierce anger and bring disaster upon them,” ¹  says the Lord. ²  “I will send armies chasing after them ³  until I have completely destroyed them.

“A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Babylonians off of their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me. There is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler that can stand up against me.

I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, ¹  and you will know that I am the Lord.

“‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note ¹  that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people’s lives ²  like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people’s lives, which you hunt like birds.

therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness. ¹ 

I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt ¹  against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

For there on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them ¹  in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things.