The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

is desolate, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. ⁴⁴Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the Lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord.'

      33Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying:

      ²Thus saith the Lord the Maker thereof,The Lord that formed it to establish it,The Lord is His name: ³Call unto Me, and I will answer thee,And will tell thee great things, and hidden, which thou knowest not.

      ⁴For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down for mounds, and for ramparts; ⁵whereon they come to fight with the Chaldeans, even to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in Mine anger and in My fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid My face from this city: ⁶Behold, I will bring it healing and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. ⁸And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against Me, and whereby they have transgressed against Me. ⁹And this city shall be to Me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure unto it.

      ¹⁰Thus saith the Lord: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, whereof ye say: It is waste, without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say: 'Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth for ever', even of them that bring offerings of thanksgiving into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, saith the Lord.

      ¹²Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ¹³In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the Lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him that counteth them, saith the Lord.

      ¹⁴Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. ¹⁵In those days, and at that time,

      Will I cause a shoot of righteousness to grow up unto David;And he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.¹⁶In those days shall Judah be saved,And Jerusalem shall dwell safely;And this is the name whereby she shall be called,The Lord is our righteousness.

      ¹⁷For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut off unto David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸neither shall there be cut off unto the priests the Levites a man before Me to offer burnt-offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

      ¹⁹And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying: ²⁰Thus saith the Lord:

      If ye can break My covenant with the day,And My covenant with the night,So that there should not be day and night in their season;²¹Then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant,That he should not have a son to reign upon his throne;And with the Levites the priests, My ministers.²²As the host of heaven cannot be numbered,Neither the sand of the sea measured;So will I multiply the seed of David My servant,And the Levites that minister unto Me.

      ²³And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁴'Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord did choose, He hath cast them off? and they contemn My people, that they should be no more a nation before them. ²⁵Thus saith the Lord: If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; ²⁶then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David My servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have compassion on them.'

       34The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the land of his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying:

      ²Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire; ³and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. ⁴Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah: Thus saith the Lord concerning thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword; ⁵thou shalt die in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee; and they shall lament thee: 'Ah lord! ' for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.

      ⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

      ⁸The word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; ⁹that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, even of a Jew his brother; ¹⁰and all the princes and all the people hearkened, that had entered into the covenant to let every one his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, and not to make bondmen of them any more; they hearkened, and let them go; ¹¹but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids; ¹²therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

      ¹³Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: ¹⁴'At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee'; but your fathers hearkened not unto Me, neither inclined their ear. ¹⁵And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in Mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before Me in the house whereon My name is called; ¹⁶but ye turned and profaned My name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. ¹⁷Therefore thus saith the Lord: Ye have not hearkened unto Me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim for you a liberty, saith the Lord, unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine; and I will make you a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸And I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, that have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof; ¹⁹the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf; ²⁰I will even give them into the