Jeremiah 40

1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still bound in the courtyard of the guard: 2 “This is what the Lord says, who made the earth and formed it so as to set it upright — the Lord is his name:” 3 “Call out to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things that you have not known.” 4 “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the houses of the king of Judah that were torn down for siege works and ramparts,” 5 “to fight against the Chaldeans, and to fill it with the corpses of the men I struck down in my anger and my wrath, when I turned my face away from them because of all their evils:” 6 “Look, I am bringing her a closing of wounds and a cure. I will reveal it to them, that they may listen, and I will heal her and make for them peace and faithfulness.” [a] 7 “I will bring back the exiles of Judah and the exiles of Israel, and I will build them as they were before.” 8 “I will cleanse them from all their wrongdoings by which they sinned against me, and I will not remember their sins by which they sinned against me and turned away from me.” 9 “And it will be a joy and a praise and a greatness to all the people of the earth, who will hear of all the good things I will do; and they will fear and be embittered over all the good things and over all the peace that I will bring them.”

10 “This is what the Lord says: There will yet be heard in this place — of which you say, It is deserted, without man or animal — in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, which lie desolate because there is no man or animal,” 11 “the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good, for his mercy is forever. And they will bring gifts into the house of the Lord, for I will bring back all the exiles of that land as they were before, says the Lord.” 12 “This is what the Lord of armies says: In this place, deserted because there is no man or animal, and in all its cities, there will yet be shelters for shepherds who let their sheep lie down.” 13 “In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the towns around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, sheep will yet pass under the hand of the one who counts them, says the Lord.” [b]