Jeremiah 33:10–14

¹⁰“This is what the Lord says: In this place, which you say is a ruin,ⁿ without people or animals—that is, in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets that are a desolation without people, without inhabitants, and without animals—there will be heard again ¹¹a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride,^o and the voice of those saying,

Give thanks to the Lord of Armies,

for the Lord is good;

his faithful love endures forever

as they bring thanksgiving sacrifices to the temple of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the Lord.

¹²“This is what the Lord of Armies says: In this desolate place—without people or animals—and in all its cities there will once more be a grazing land where shepherds may rest flocks.^{p 13}The flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them^q in the cities of the hill country,^r the cities of the Judean foothills, the cities of the Negev, the land of Benjamin—the areas around Jerusalem and in Judah’s cities, says the Lord.

GOD’S COVENANT WITH DAVID

¹⁴“Look, the days are coming”—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

“when I will fulfill the good promise

that I have spoken

concerning the house of Israel

and the house of Judah.^s