The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 516

32:44. Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be written, and sealed, and witnesses shall be taken, in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, in the cities of Juda, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: for I will bring back their captivity, saith the Lord.

Jeremias Chapter 33

G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.s 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.

Jeremias Chapter 34

The prophet foretells that Sedecias shall fall into the hands of Nabuchodonosor: G.o.d's sentence upon the princes and people that had broken his covenant.

34:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying:

34:2. Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

34:3. And thou shalt not escape out of his hand: but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

34:4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword.

34:5. But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.

Die in peace... That is, by a natural death.

34:6. And Jeremias the prophet spoke all these words to Sedecias the king of Juda in Jerusalem.

34:7. And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Juda that were left, against Lachis, and against Azecha: for these remained of the cities of Juda, fenced cities.

34:8. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:

34:9. That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free: and that they should not lord it over them, to wit, over the Jews their brethren.

34:10. And all the princes, and all the people who entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant go free, and should no more have dominion over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free.

34:11. But afterwards they turned: and brought back again their servants and their handmaids, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection as menservants and maidservants.

34:12. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:

34:13. Thus saith the Lord the G.o.d of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:

34:14. At the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother being a Hebrew, who hath been sold to thee, so he shall serve thee six years: and thou shalt let him go free from thee: and your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear.