28. I am going to give this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army; they will capture it
29. and set it on fire. They will burn it down, together with the houses where people have made me angry by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out wine offerings to other gods.
30. From the very beginning of their history the people of Israel and the people of Judah have displeased me and made me angry by what they have done.
31. The people of this city have made me angry and furious from the day it was built. I have decided to destroy it
32. because of all the evil that has been done by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, together with their kings and leaders, their priests and prophets.
33. They turned their backs on me; and though I kept on teaching them, they would not listen and learn.
34. They even placed their disgusting idols in the Temple built for my worship, and they have defiled it.
35. They have built altars to Baal in the Valley of Hinnom, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin.”
36. The Lord, the God of Israel, said to me, “Jeremiah, the people are saying that war, starvation, and disease will make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylonia. Now listen to what else I have to say.
37. I am going to gather the people from all the countries where I have scattered them in my anger and fury, and I am going to bring them back to this place and let them live here in safety.
38. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.
39. I will give them a single purpose in life: to honour me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants.
40. I will make an eternal covenant with them. I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will make them fear me with all their heart, so that they will never turn away from me.
41. I will take pleasure in doing good things for them, and I will establish them permanently in this land.
42. “Just as I have brought this disaster on these people, so I am going to give them all the good things that I have promised.
43. The people are saying that this land will be like a desert where neither people nor animals live, and that it will be given over to the Babylonians. But fields will once again be bought in this land.
44. People will buy them, and the deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will take place in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages round Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, and in the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah. I will restore the people to their land. I, the Lord, have spoken.”