1. The lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
2. “This is what the lord, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah.
3. For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the lord, have spoken!”
4. This is the message the lord gave concerning Israel and Judah.
5. This is what the lord says:“I hear cries of fear;there is terror and no peace.
6. Now let me ask you a question:Do men give birth to babies?Then why do they stand there, ashen-faced,hands pressed against their sideslike a woman in labor?
7. In all history there has never been such a time of terror.It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel.Yet in the end they will be saved!
8. For in that day,”says the lord of Heaven’s Armies,“I will break the yoke from their necksand snap their chains.Foreigners will no longer be their masters.
9. For my people will serve the lord their Godand their king descended from David—the king I will raise up for them.