Jeremiah 30

Prophecy: Israel’s Comeback

Jeremiah the writer

1The LORD sent this message to Jeremiah. 2This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says:
Write onto a scroll everything I ever told you. 3One day I’ll return my people to their land so they can take back their property. Again, I’ll build the people of Israel and Judah into a prosperous nation.

Terror of the exile

4This is what the LORD said about Israel and Judah:

5People are panicked and crying.
There’s no peace, only terror.
6Ask your questions
And see what happens.
Why do I see all the men looking terrified
Wrapped in their own arms
Like women in labor?
Why are their faces bloodless and pale?
7What a day!
It’s one of a kind.
A hard day for Jacob’s [1] big family.
But a rescue is coming.

Free at last

8When that day comes, I’ll snap that yoke off your neck, pop the shackles, and free you from slavery in this foreign land. 9Once again you’ll worship God and serve your king from David’s family dynasty.

10Don’t be afraid my children,
My children of Jacob.
There’s nothing to worry about, Israel.
I’ll save you. And I’ll do it from long-distance.
You and your families are coming home.
You’re coming home to prosper and live in peace.
You’ll have nothing to fear then.
11I’m the LORD and I’m with you.
I’ll save you.
As for those nations that made slaves of you,
I’ll turn them into nothing. The end.
But it’s just the beginning for you.
I’ll punish you fairly.
But I’ll punish you surely.

Israel’s fatal wound

The LORD says:
There’s no cure for what hurts you.
You’ve got a deadly wound.
13The doctor’s not in—not for you.
Medicine won’t help you, either.
14To your closest friends you’re long forgotten.
They don’t know you, they don’t care.
I’ve treated you like the enemy,
And I’ve shown no mercy
Because you’re guilty as sin.
You just couldn’t stop sinning.
15Why are you crying about the pain?
You brought it on yourself
By sinning as much as you do.
You sinned a lot.
And that’s why I did this to you.

Jerusalem will rise again

Anyone who feeds on you will get swallowed up.
Your enemies will become slaves.
Raiders who stole from you will get robbed.
Hunters preying on you will become the hunted.
17I will heal your wounds and restore your health.
The LORD says,
I’ll do it because they called you an outsider:
“It’s only Jerusalem. Who cares about that town?”
18The LORD says:
I’m giving everything back to Jacob’s kids.
I'm going to give them their money and their homes.
The city will be rebuilt.
And the Temple [2] will be in its rightful place.
19The people are going to be thankful
And they're going to make happy sounds of laughter.
Then back home, they’re going to have babies.
A lot of them, not a little.
And they will enjoy honor and respect.
20Children will play as they used to,
In the good old times once again.
They will come together as a community
And I will establish them there as a nation.
I will hurt anyone who hurts them.
21The king will be one of them.
One of their own will rule.
I’ll stay close to him.
No one but me could make that call.
I decide who to bring in close.
22You will be my people.
I will be your God.

God storms in on the wicked

Here comes the storm,
The wrath of God
Like a cyclone
Targeting the wicked.
24You can’t stop a violent storm like this.
It will blow and go where it goes.
The LORD will execute his plan
And carry it through to its last detail.

Footnotes

Intro Notes to Jeremiah

130:7

Jacob was the father of the Jewish nation. His 12 sons produced families that grew into tribes—the 12 tribes of Israel, the nation. After King Solomon, the tribes split into two nations: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. By the time of Jeremiah, the northern nation had disappeared. Assyrian invaders deported the survivors who never came back in numbers large enough to reconstitute the nation from scratch.

230:18

In Hebrew the word is armon, which can mean a stronghold, such as the safest place in a walled city like Jerusalem—which could have been the palace. But for the Jewish people, their strength came from God. The Temple may have been their spiritual fortress. It was also the place of the last stand for many Jews fighting Romans in AD 70. They, too, like the Babylonians of Jeremiah’s day, destroyed Jerusalem.