1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.
3 For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’”
4 Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
5 “For this is what the Lord says:
‘I have heard a sound of terror,
Of fear, and there is no peace.
6 Ask now, and see
If a male can give birth.
Why do I see every man
With his hands on his waist, as a woman in childbirth?
And why have all faces turned pale?
7 Woe, for that day is great,
There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,
Yet he will be saved from it.
8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from their necks and will tear to pieces their restraints; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves.
9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them."
