<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Indeed, a time is coming,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" /> &#8220;when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah.<n id="3" />

Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David&#8217;s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed,<n id="1" /> I will restore them<n id="2" /> and show mercy to them.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">I planted you in the landp> <p class="poetry">like a special vine of the very best stock.p> <p class="poetry">Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vinep> <p class="poetry">that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?<n id="1" />p>

We have not built any houses to live in. We do not own any vineyards, fields, or crops.

And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> affirms,<n id="1" /> &#8220;The descendants of Israel will notp> <p class="poetry">cease forever to be a nation in my sight.p> <p class="poetry">That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lightsp> <p class="poetry">were to cease to operate before me.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">But I will strip everything away from Esau&#8217;s descendants.p> <p class="poetry">I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide.p> <p class="poetry">Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed.p> <p class="poetry">Not one of them will be left!p>

<p class="poetry">This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away.p> <p class="poetry">He will be like a clay vessel<n id="1" /> that no one wants.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Why will he and his children be forced into exile?p> <p class="poetry">Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about?<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Enroll this man in the register as though he were childless.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Enroll him as a man who will not enjoy success during his lifetime.p> <p class="poetry">For none of his sons will succeed in occupying the throne of Davidp> <p class="poetry">or ever succeed in ruling over Judah.&#8221;p>

But at that time they will affirm them with &#8220;I swear as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel<n id="1" /> from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished<n id="2" /> them.&#8221;<n id="3" /> At that time they will live in their own land.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">So I, the <sc>Lordsc>, tell you not to be afraid,p> <p class="poetry">you descendants of Jacob, my servants.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not be terrified, people of Israel.p> <p class="poetry">For I will rescue you and your descendantsp> <p class="poetry">from a faraway land where you are captives.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.p> <p class="poetry">They will be secure and no one will terrify them.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I will not reject all the descendants of Israelp> <p class="poetry">because of all that they have done.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">That could only happen if the heavens above could be measuredp> <p class="poetry">or the foundations of the earth below could all be explored,&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />p>

I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

Do not build houses. Do not plant crops. Do not plant a vineyard or own one.<n id="1" /> Live in tents all your lives. If you do these things you will<n id="2" /> live a long time in the land that you wander about on.&#8217;<n id="3" />

I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done.<n id="1" /> I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem,<n id="2" /> and the people of Judah all the disaster that I threatened to do to them. I will punish them because I threatened them but they still paid no heed.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">But in the seventh month<n id="1" /> Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama who was a member of the royal family and had been one of Zedekiah&#8217;s chief officers, came with ten of his men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah,

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="poetry">&#8220;You descendants of Jacob, my servants,<n id="2" /> do not be afraid;p> <p class="poetry">do not be terrified, people of Israel.p> <p class="poetry">For I will rescue you and your descendantsp> <p class="poetry">from the faraway lands where you are captives.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.p> <p class="poetry">They will be secure and no one will terrify them.p>

Because he has done this,&#8221;<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>