The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Prophecy of Jeremias
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Chapter 30
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Word came to Jeremias from the Lord,
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the God of Israel, bidding him write down in a book the revelation made known to him.
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A time is coming, the Lord says, when I will reverse the sentence of exile against my people of Israel and Juda; I, the Lord, will restore them to possession of the land I gave to their fathers.

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This is the divine promise made to Israel and Juda:
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A cry of terror, the Lord says, for all to hear! All is consternation, where all was peace.
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Why, here is a riddle and a wonder; can motherhood fall to the lot of men folk? Why is there none to be seen but goes by, hand on loins, cheeks blanched, like a woman in travail?
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Alas for pity, what a day is this, none like it; what a time of distress for Jacob’s race! Yet it shall leave them unharmed.
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A promise they have from the Lord of hosts that he will break the yoke they bear, when that day comes, and part their chains asunder; no more shall they be at the mercy of alien masters,
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they shall obey the Lord their God only, and that David-king of theirs whom he will give them.

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Have thou no fear, the Lord says, Jacob, that art my servant still; not for Israel is danger brewing. From that far country of exile I mean to restore thee, restore those children of thine; Jacob shall return, and live at ease, every blessing shall enjoy, and enemies have none to fear;
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I am at thy side, the Lord says, to protect thee. Of all the lands in which I have dispersed thee I will take full toll, but not of thee; I would but chasten thee with due measure kept, lest thou shouldst hold thyself altogether acquitted.
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Poor Sion, thine is a wound past curing, a grievous hurt, the Lord says;
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no man brings thee redress or remedy, salve to heal thee thou hast none;
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thy old lovers think of thee no more, woo thee no more. A shrewd blow I struck thee, unsparing of correction; so many thy misdoings, thy guilt so inveterate.
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Misdoings a many, and guilt inveterate, these be the cause of thy hurt, and I the doer of it; and wouldst thou cry out upon a grief there is no remedying?
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Only be sure of this, the enemies that prey on thee shall themselves fall a prey to exile; spoiled thy spoilers shall be, and all that plunder thee I will give up to plunder.
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Then I will heal that scar of thine, the Lord says, cure thee of thy wounds; too soon they called thee a neglected bride, Sion the unwooed!

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Nay, says the Lord, I mean to bring tent-dwelling Jacob home, have pity on those ruined walls, build the city anew on its height, set up the temple and its ordinances anew;
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here songs of praise shall echo once again, and cries of mirth. They shall increase, that hitherto had dwindled, be exalted, that once were brought low.
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Then, as in days of old, the full muster of the tribes shall have its place in my regard; who wrongs them shall be called to account for it.
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A prince of their own race they shall have, a home-born ruler, singled out by my own call to serve me; that office, the Lord says, none may take on himself unbidden.
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You shall be my own people, and I your own God.

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Like a whirlwind it will suddenly appear, the Lord’s vengeance; will break in storm, and light upon rebel heads.
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Nor shall the divine anger be appeased till the blow has been struck and the decree executed; what his design was, will be known all too well, all too late.