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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 33

Jeremiah 33: a second word in the prison court and the Branch for David

General context

The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah a second time while he is still shut up in the court of the prison. The Lord names himself as maker and invites Jeremiah to call and be shown great and mighty things. Concerning the houses of the city and of the kings of Judah, thrown down by siege mounds and the sword, he says they are filled with the dead bodies of men he has slain in his anger. Yet he will bring health and cure, return the captivity of Judah and Israel, build them as at first, cleanse and pardon them, and make the city a name of joy before the nations. In the place people call desolate, the voice of joy, bridegroom and bride will be heard again, with those who say the Lord is good and his mercy endures for ever. Shepherds will again fold flocks across the cities of the mountains, the vale, the south, Benjamin and Judah. Days are coming when the Lord will raise up a Branch of righteousness for David to execute judgment; Judah will be saved and Jerusalem dwell safely under the name The Lord our righteousness. David will never lack a man on the throne, nor the Levitical priests a man to offer. A further word says that only if the covenant of day and night can be broken can the covenant with David and the Levites be broken; their seed will be multiplied like the host of heaven and the sand. A final word answers the people who say the Lord has cast off the two families he chose: as surely as the ordinances of heaven and earth stand, he will not cast away the seed of Jacob and David, but will return their captivity and have mercy.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 33:1, Jeremiah 33:3, Jeremiah 33:4, Jeremiah 33:5, Jeremiah 33:6, Jeremiah 33:7, Jeremiah 33:8, Jeremiah 33:9, Jeremiah 33:10, Jeremiah 33:11, Jeremiah 33:12, Jeremiah 33:13, Jeremiah 33:15, Jeremiah 33:16, Jeremiah 33:17, Jeremiah 33:18, Jeremiah 33:20, Jeremiah 33:21, Jeremiah 33:22, Jeremiah 33:24, Jeremiah 33:26

Jeremiah 33 (KJV)

1Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

2Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name;

3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

4For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;

5They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

6Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

7And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

9And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

10Thus saith the Lord; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

11The 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, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord.

12Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the Lord.

14Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

15In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

16In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

17For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

18Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

19And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,

20Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

21Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

23Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

24Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

25Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

26Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

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Historical context

The chapter is tied to the previous one by its opening: this is the second word to Jeremiah in the court of the prison, so the siege setting of chapter 32 still holds. It contains three separate words, marked at verses 1, 19 and 23. The dead bodies filling the houses are stated plainly as the Lord's own slaying in anger. The Branch of righteousness raised for David repeats an earlier oracle in the book, but the name differs in its application: in chapter 23 "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" is the name by which the king is called, while here "she shall be called" makes it the name of the city. The line "for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever" is the wording of a psalm of thanksgiving. The "two families" that the people say the Lord has cast off are not named; the Lord's reply speaks of the seed of Jacob and of David. The promise to the priests the Levites stands beside the promise to David and is repeated in each of the last two words. No king's name and no year appear in the chapter beyond the prison-court setting.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 33:1, Jeremiah 33:19, Jeremiah 33:23, Jeremiah 33:5, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6, Jeremiah 33:16, Psalms 136:1, Jeremiah 33:11, Jeremiah 33:24, Jeremiah 33:21

Literary context

The chapter answers a quoted objection twice. The people say the place will be desolate without man and without beast; the Lord repeats their words and sets against them a list of voices that will be heard again, joy, gladness, bridegroom, bride, praise. The people say the two families have been cast off; the Lord repeats that too and answers with day and night. The covenant of day and night is used as an argument in both of the last two words, so the permanence of the sky becomes the measure of the promise to David and the priests. The regional list of verse 13 mirrors the closing list of chapter 32, and the promise of shepherds' flocks passing under a counting hand sets a small, ordinary scene against the dead bodies of verse 5. Each of the three words is shorter than the one before. Health and cure, cleansing and pardon precede the Branch, so the chapter moves from the city's condition to its future ruler.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 33:10, Jeremiah 33:11, Jeremiah 33:24, Jeremiah 33:25, Jeremiah 33:20, Jeremiah 33:13, Jeremiah 32:44, Jeremiah 33:5, Jeremiah 33:6, Jeremiah 33:8, Jeremiah 33:15

Key moments

  1. Call and I will answer (Jeremiah 33:3). The Lord invites Jeremiah to call and be shown great things.
  2. Houses filled with the dead (Jeremiah 33:5). The Lord says the city's houses hold the bodies of men he has slain.
  3. The bridegroom's voice again (Jeremiah 33:11). Joy, wedding voices and praise will return to the desolate place.
  4. A Branch for David (Jeremiah 33:15). The Lord promises a righteous Branch to execute judgment in the land.
  5. The Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 33:16). Jerusalem will be called by this name and dwell safely.
  6. The covenant of day and night (Jeremiah 33:20). Only if day and night fail can the covenant with David be broken.
  7. The two families (Jeremiah 33:24). The Lord answers those who say his chosen families are cast off.

For reflection

The people's claim that the Lord has cast off the families he chose is answered with the covenant of day and night. What does it mean to measure a promise by whether the sun still rises?

People in this chapter