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11 Once again there will be sounds[a] of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms.[b] Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the Lord and will say, “Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever.”[c] For I, the Lord, affirm[d] that I will restore the land to what it was[e] in days of old.’[f]

12 “I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, say:[g] ‘This place will indeed lie in ruins. There will be no people or animals in it. But there will again be in it and in its towns sheepfolds where shepherds can rest their sheep. 13 I, the Lord, say that shepherds will once again count their sheep as they pass into the fold.[h] They will do this in all the towns in the hill country, the foothills,[i] the Negev,[j] the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, and the towns of Judah.’[k]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 33:11 tn Heb33:10 Thus says the Lord, ‘There will again be heard in this place of which you are saying [masc. pl.], “It is a ruin without people and without animals,” [that is] in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, which are desolate without people and without inhabitants and without animals, 33:11 the sound of….” The long, run-on sentence in Hebrew has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.
  2. Jeremiah 33:11 sn What is predicted here is a reversal of the decimation caused by the Babylonian conquest that had been threatened in 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.
  3. Jeremiah 33:11 sn This is a common hymnic introduction to both individual songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 118:1) and communal songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 136, where it is a liturgical refrain accompanying a recital of Israel’s early history and the Lord’s continuing providence).
  4. Jeremiah 33:11 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
  5. Jeremiah 33:11 tn Or “I will restore the fortunes of the land.”sn See the study note on Jer 29:18 and compare 29:14; 30:3, 18; 31:23; 32:44; 33:7 for the meaning and usage of this idiom. The promise here repeats that in 33:7.
  6. Jeremiah 33:11 tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.sn This refers to the reunification of Israel and Judah to the state that they were before the division after Solomon. Cf. Jer 3:18; 30:3; 31:27; see the study note on 30:3.
  7. Jeremiah 33:12 tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of Armies.” For the explanation for the first person introduction see the translator’s notes on 33:2, 10. Verses 4, 10, and 12 introduce three oracles, all fulfilling the Lord’s promise to Jeremiah to show him “great and mysterious things that you still do not know about” (33:2).
  8. Jeremiah 33:13 sn Heb “Sheep will again pass under the hands of the counter.” This appears to be a reference to counting the sheep to make sure that none was missing as they returned to the fold. See the same idiom in Lev 27:32 and in the metaphor in Ezek 20:37.
  9. Jeremiah 33:13 tn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the transition region between the hill country and the coastal plains.
  10. Jeremiah 33:13 sn The Negev is the area of central, southern Judah, south of the hill country and Beer Sheba and west of the rift valley.
  11. Jeremiah 33:13 sn Cf. Jer 32:44.