Jeremiah 16:15

16:15 But in that time they will affirm them with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 23:8

23:8 But at that time they will affirm them with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel ²  from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished ³  them.” ⁴  At that time they will live in their own land.’”

Jeremiah 27:11

27:11 Things will go better for the nation that submits to the yoke of servitude to ⁵  the king of Babylon and is subject to him. I will leave that nation ⁶  in its native land. Its people can continue to farm it and live in it. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’” ⁷ 

Ezra 3:1

The Altar is Rebuilt

3:1 When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites ⁸  were living ⁹  in their ¹⁰  towns, the people assembled ¹¹  in ¹²  Jerusalem. ¹³ 

Ezra 3:8

3:8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem, ¹⁴  in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work, ¹⁵  along with the rest of their associates, ¹⁶  the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed ¹⁷  the Levites who were at least twenty years old ¹⁸  to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple.

Ezra 3:12

3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ¹⁹  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ²⁰  – were weeping loudly, ²¹  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

Ezekiel 20:42

20:42 Then you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I swore ²²  to give to your fathers.

Ezekiel 28:25-26

28:25 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power ²³  over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 28:26 They will live securely in it; they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely ²⁴  when I execute my judgments on all those who scorn them and surround them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”

Ezekiel 36:24

36:24 “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries; then I will bring you to your land.

Ezekiel 37:21-25

37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ²⁵  37:23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness ²⁶  by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become their God.

37:24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow ²⁷  my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. ²⁸  37:25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it – they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever.

Ezekiel 39:27-28

39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations. 39:28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile ²⁹  any longer.

Ezekiel 47:14

47:14 You must divide it equally just as I vowed to give it to your forefathers; ³⁰  this land will be assigned as your inheritance. ³¹ 

¹ tn These two verses which constitute one long sentence with compound, complex subordinations has been broken up for sake of English style. It reads, “Therefore, behold the days are coming, says the Lord [Heb ‘oracle of the Lord’] and it will not be said any longer, ‘By the life of the Lord who…Egypt’ but ‘by the life of the Lord who…’ and I will bring them back….”

² tn Heb “descendants of the house of Israel.”

³ tc It is probably preferable to read the third masculine singular plus suffix (הִדִּיחָם, hiddikham) here with the Greek version and the parallel passage in 16:15 rather than the first singular plus suffix in the MT (הִדַּחְתִּים, hiddakhtim). If this is not a case of mere graphic confusion, the MT could have arisen under the influence of the first person in v. 3. Though sudden shifts in person have been common in the book of Jeremiah, that is unlikely in a context reporting an oath.

⁴ tn This passage is the same as 16:14-15 with a few minor variations in Hebrew wording. The notes on that passage should be consulted for the rendering here. This passage has the Niphal of the verb “to say” rather than the impersonal use of the Qal. It adds the idea of “bringing out” to the idea of “bringing up out” and (Heb “who brought up and who brought out,” probably a case of hendiadys) before “the people [here “seed” rather than “children”] of Israel [here “house of Israel”] from the land of the north.” These are minor variations and do not affect the sense in any way. So the passage is rendered in much the same way.

⁵ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

⁶ tn The words “Things will go better for” are not in the text. They are supplied contextually as a means of breaking up the awkward syntax of the original which reads “The nation which brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and subjects itself to him, I will leave it…”

⁷ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

⁸ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

⁹ tn The word “living” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied. Some translations supply “settled” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT).

¹⁰ tc The translation reads with some medieval Hebrew MSS and ancient versions בְּעָרֵיהֶם (be’arehem, “in their towns”), rather than the reading בֶּעָרִים (be’arim, “in the towns”) found in the MT. Cf. Neh 7:72 HT [7:73 ET].

¹¹ tn The Hebrew text adds the phrase “like one man.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹² tn Heb “to.”

¹³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁵ tn Heb “began”; the phrase “the work” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

¹⁶ tn Heb “their brothers.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “stood.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “from twenty years and upward.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

²⁰ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

²¹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

²² tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

²³ tn Or “reveal my holiness.” See verse 22.

²⁴ sn This promise was given in Lev 25:18-19.

²⁵ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

²⁶ tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.

²⁷ tn Heb “walk [in].”

²⁸ tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”

²⁹ tn Heb “there,” referring to the foreign nations to which they were exiled. The translation makes the referent clear.

³⁰ sn Gen 15:9-21.

³¹ tn Heb “will fall to you as an inheritance.”