God promises reduction from captivity, and other blessings: especially
the coming of Christ, whose reign in his church shall be glorious and
perpetual.
33:1. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, while
he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying:
33:2. Thus saith the Lord, who will do, and will form it, and prepare
it, the Lord is his name.
33:3. Cry to me and I will hear thee: and I will shew thee great things,
and sure things which thou knowest not.
33:4. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the houses of this
city, and to the houses of the king of Juda, which are destroyed, and to
the bulwarks, and to the sword.
33:5. Of them that come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them
with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in my wrath, and in my
indignation, hiding my face from this city because of all their
wickedness.
33:6. Behold I will close their wounds and give them health, and I will
cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace and truth.
The prayer of peace... That is, the peace and welfare which they pray
for.
33:7. And I will bring back the captivity of Juda, and the captivity of
Jerusalem: and I will build them as from the beginning.
33:8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have
sinned against me: and I will forgive all their iniquities, whereby they
have sinned against me, and despised me.
33:9. And it shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a
gladness before all the nations of the earth, that shall hear of all the
good things which I will do to them: and they shall fear and be troubled
for all the good things, and for all the peace that I will make for
them.
33:10. Thus saith the Lord: There shall be heard again in this place
(which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast: in
the cities of Juda, and without Jerusalem, which are desolate without
man, and without inhabitant, and without beast)
33:11. The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say:
Give ye glory to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy
endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring their vows into the
house of the Lord: for I will bring back the captivity of the land as at
the first, saith the Lord.
33:12. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall be again in this place
that is desolate without man, and without beast, and in all the cities
thereof, an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
33:13. And in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the
plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: and in the land of
Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda shall the
flocks pass again under the hand of him that numbereth them, saith the
Lord.
33:14. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the
good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of
Juda.
33:15. In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice
to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the
earth.
33:16. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell
securely: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our
just one.
33:17. For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut off from David a
man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.
There shall not be cut off from David, etc... This was verified in
Christ, who is of the house of David; and whose kingdom in his church
shall have no end.
33:18. Neither shall there be cut off from the priests and Levites a man
before my face to offer holocausts, and to burn sacrifices, and to kill
victims continually.
Neither shall there be cut off from the priests, etc... This promise
relates to the Christian priesthood; which shall also continue for ever:
the functions of which (more especially the great sacrifice of the
altar) are here expressed by the name of holocausts, and other offerings
of the law, which were so many figures of the Christian sacrifice.
33:19. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:
33:20. Thus saith the Lord: if my covenant, with the day can be made
void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and
night in their season:
33:21. Also my covenant with David my servant may be made void, that he
should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and
priests my ministers.
33:22. As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the
sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and
the Levites my ministers.
33:23. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:
33:24. Hast thou not seen what this people hath spoken, saying: The two
families which the Lord had chosen, are cast off: and they have despised
my people, so that it is no more a nation before them?
Two families, etc... Viz., the families of the kings and priests.
33:25. Thus saith the Lord. If I have not set my covenant between day
and night, and laws to heaven and earth:
33:26. Surely I will also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David my
servant, so as not to take any of his seed to be rulers of the seed of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will bring back their captivity, and
will have mercy on them.