Study Desk

Also, do good things for the city I sent you to. Pray to the Lord for the city you are living in, because if there is peace in that city, you will have peace also."

I say this because I know the plans that I have for you." This message is from the Lord . "I have good plans for you. I don't plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.

I will make all these things happen because the people of Jerusalem have not listened to my message." This message is from the Lord . "I sent my message to them again and again. I used my servants, the prophets, to give my messages to them, but they didn't listen." This message is from the Lord .

Because Shemaiah has done that, this is what the Lord says: I will soon punish Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family. I will completely destroy his family, and he will not share in the good things I will do for my people.'" This message is from the Lord . "‘I will punish Shemaiah because he has taught the people to turn against the Lord .'"

Do this because the days will come"—this message is from the Lord —"when I will bring my people, Israel and Judah, back from exile." This message is from the Lord . "I will put the people back in the land that I gave to their ancestors. Then my people will own that land again."

You became friends with many nations, but those nations don't care about you. Your ‘friends' have forgotten you. I hurt you like an enemy. I punished you very hard. I did this because of your great guilt. I did this because of your many sins.

Israel and Judah, why are you still crying about your wound? There is no cure for it. I did this to you because of your great guilt. I did this because of your many sins.

And I will bring your health back and heal your wounds," says the Lord , "because other people said you were outcasts. They said, ‘No one cares about Zion.'"

They will come back crying, but I will lead them and comfort them. I will lead them by streams of water. I will lead them on an easy road, where they will not stumble. I will lead them in that way because I am Israel's father. And Ephraim is my firstborn son.

This is what the Lord says: "A sound is heard in Ramah— bitter crying and great sadness. Rachel cries for her children, and she refuses to be comforted, because her children are gone."

People will not have to teach their neighbors and relatives to know the Lord , because all people, from the least important to the most important, will know me." This message is from the Lord . "I will forgive them for the evil things they did. I will not remember their sins."

‘Jeremiah, your cousin, Hanamel, will come to you soon. He is the son of your uncle Shallum. Hanamel will say to you, "Jeremiah, buy my field near the town of Anathoth. Buy it because you are my nearest relative. It is your right and your responsibility to buy that field."'

"Then it happened just as the Lord said. My cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard. Hanamel said to me, ‘Jeremiah, buy my field near the town of Anathoth, in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy that land for yourself because it is your right to buy it and own it.'" So I knew that this was a message from the Lord .

"And now the enemy has surrounded the city. They are building ramps so that they can get over the walls of Jerusalem and capture it. Because of war, hunger, and disease, the city of Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonian army. The Babylonians are attacking the city now. You said this would happen, and now you see it is happening.

I have watched the people of Israel and the people of Judah. Everything they do is evil. They have done evil things since they were young. The people of Israel have made me very angry because they worship idols that they made with their own hands." This message is from the Lord .

I will destroy Jerusalem because of all the evil things the people of Israel and Judah have done. The people, their kings, leaders, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem have all made me angry.

They will use their money and buy fields. They will sign and seal their agreements. They will witness the people signing their deeds. They will again buy fields in the land where the tribe of Benjamin lives, in the area around Jerusalem, in the towns of the land of Judah, in the hill country, in the western foothills, and in the area of the southern desert. This will happen because I will bring them back home." This message is from the Lord .

There will be sounds of joy and happiness. There will be the happy sounds of a bride and groom. There will be the sounds of people bringing their gifts to the Lord 's Temple. They will say, ‘Praise the Lord All-Powerful! The Lord is good! His faithful love will last forever!' They will say this because I will again do good things to Judah. It will be as it was in the beginning." This is what the Lord said.

But now you have changed your minds. You have shown that you do not honor my name because each of you has taken back the male and female slaves that you had set free. You have forced them to become slaves again.'

"So this is what the Lord says: ‘You people have not obeyed me. You have not given freedom to your fellow Hebrews. So, because you have not given them freedom, I will give a special kind of freedom—freedom to die in war or by disease or by hunger! This message is from the Lord . When the other nations see what I have done to you, they will all be shocked.