Jeremiah 33 Study Notes: The Righteous Branch and Restoration
Still held in the guard's courtyard, Jeremiah hears God promise to heal Jerusalem, forgive its sins, and bring back joy, worship, and flocks to the ruined land. God pledges a righteous Branch from David's line and ties His covenants with David's line and the Levitical priests to the fixed pattern of day and night.
General
In 33:1-3, what does the LORD invite Jeremiah to do while he is still confined?
Answer: To call to Him, and He would answer and show hidden things
Jeremiah is still shut up in the guard's courtyard when the LORD speaks to him again (33:1). God names Himself as the Maker who formed the earth and set it firmly in place, and He invites Jeremiah to call to Him, promising to answer and to show him great, hidden things beyond his knowledge (33:2-3). The rest of the chapter is that answer: promises of healing, forgiveness, and restoration given while the city was falling. God makes similar promises to answer those who call on Him (29:12-13; Psalm 91:15) and to reveal hidden things not known before (Isaiah 48:6).
- Jeremiah 33:1-3 (BSB)“While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it, the LORD is His name: Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”While still confined, Jeremiah hears the Creator invite him to call and promise to answer.
- Jeremiah 29:12-13 (BSB)“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”God had told the exiles that when they called on Him and sought Him with all their heart, He would listen and they would find Him.
- Psalm 91:15 (BSB)“When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.”God promises to answer the one who calls on Him and to stand by him in distress.
- Isaiah 48:6 (BSB)“You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.”God announces new and hidden things His people did not know, as He does in this chapter.
Theological
What invitation and promise does the LORD give the imprisoned Jeremiah in 33:2-3?
Answer: To call to Him, and He would answer and show hidden things
The second word in the guard's courtyard (33:1) introduces the LORD as Maker and establisher of the earth and issues an invitation to call on Him, with a promise to answer and to reveal great, hidden matters beyond the prophet's knowledge (33:2-3). What follows in the chapter is that disclosure, a revelation of restoration that no human reading of the siege could produce. The same God promises to hear those who call on Him (29:12-13; Psalm 91:15) and to declare new and hidden things (Isaiah 48:6). Revelation comes at God's initiative; the prophet's part is to call and receive.
- Jeremiah 33:1-3 (BSB)“While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it, the LORD is His name: Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”While still confined, Jeremiah hears the Creator invite him to call and promise to answer.
- Jeremiah 29:12-13 (BSB)“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”God had told the exiles that when they called on Him and sought Him with all their heart, He would listen and they would find Him.
- Psalm 91:15 (BSB)“When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.”God promises to answer the one who calls on Him and to stand by him in distress.
- Isaiah 48:6 (BSB)“You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.”God announces new and hidden things His people did not know, as He does in this chapter.
General
Besides bringing the exiles back, what does God promise in 33:7-8 concerning His people's sins?
Answer: Cleansing them from their iniquity and forgiving their rebellion
God promises to bring Judah and Israel back and rebuild them as before (33:7). He goes further: He will wash away all the guilt of their sin against Him and forgive all their rebellion (33:8). Restoration to the land would mean little without restoration to God, and both are His gift. As a result the city will bring God fame, joy, praise, and honor among the nations, who will tremble at the good He does for it (33:9). The same promise of forgiveness ends the new covenant passage (31:34), and other prophets speak of God cleansing His people (Ezekiel 36:25) and pardoning sin since loving devotion is His delight (Micah 7:18-19).
- Jeremiah 33:7-9 (BSB)“I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times. And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me. So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.”God promises to bring back Judah and Israel, cleanse and forgive them, and make the city His renown before the nations.
- Jeremiah 31:34 (BSB)“No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.””The new covenant promise ends with God forgiving iniquity and remembering sins no more.
- Ezekiel 36:25 (BSB)“I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”God promises to wash His people with clean water and purify them from their uncleanness and idols.
- Micah 7:18-19 (BSB)“Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.”God pardons iniquity because loving devotion is His delight, and He hurls His people's sins into the sea.
Theological
What does the LORD promise concerning Judah's guilt in 33:8?
Answer: Cleansing them from their iniquity and forgiving their rebellion
Restoration in 33:7 is matched by a promise of cleansing and pardon: God will purify them of every iniquity committed against Him and forgive all their transgressions of rebellion (33:8). Forgiveness is wholly God's initiative, not a reward for the exile endured, and its end is His own glory, as the city becomes His fame, joy, praise, and honor before the nations (33:9). The promise belongs with the new covenant pledge of sins remembered no more (31:34), Ezekiel's cleansing with clean water (Ezekiel 36:25), and Micah's God who pardons iniquity since loving devotion is His delight (Micah 7:18-19).
- Jeremiah 33:7-9 (BSB)“I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times. And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me. So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.”God promises to bring back Judah and Israel, cleanse and forgive them, and make the city His renown before the nations.
- Jeremiah 31:34 (BSB)“No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.””The new covenant promise ends with God forgiving iniquity and remembering sins no more.
- Ezekiel 36:25 (BSB)“I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”God promises to wash His people with clean water and purify them from their uncleanness and idols.
- Micah 7:18-19 (BSB)“Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.”God pardons iniquity because loving devotion is His delight, and He hurls His people's sins into the sea.
General
In 33:20-26, to what does God compare the certainty of His covenant with David and with His people?
Answer: The settled order of day and night that He has set up
God says that if His covenant with day and night could ever be broken, so that they no longer came at their set times, then His covenant with David and with the Levitical priests could also be broken (33:20-21). People were saying that the LORD had cast off the two families God once picked out and were treating His people as no nation at all (33:24). God answers that just as surely as He has set in place the settled pattern of day and night, sky and land, He will not cast off Jacob's and David's offspring, but will restore them and show them mercy (33:25-26). Day and night have never stopped, as God promised after the flood (Genesis 8:22), and He uses the same comparison elsewhere (31:35-36; Psalm 89:36-37).
- Jeremiah 33:20-21 (BSB)““This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.”God says His covenant with David and the Levites can be broken only if His covenant with day and night can be broken.
- Jeremiah 33:24-26 (BSB)““Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.””God answers the claim that He has cast off the two families by pointing again to His covenant with day and night.
- Jeremiah 31:35-36 (BSB)“Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name: “Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.””God similarly ties Israel's continued existence as a nation to the fixed order of sun, moon, and stars.
- Psalm 89:36-37 (BSB)“his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun, like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah”The psalm compares the lasting of David's throne to the sun and moon in the sky.
- Genesis 8:22 (BSB)“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.””After the flood God promised that day and night would never cease while the earth endures.
Theological
What guarantee does God set beside His covenant with David and Jacob's descendants in 33:20-26?
Answer: The settled order of day and night that He has set up
God grounds the Davidic and Levitical covenants in the regularity of creation: only if His covenant with day and night could be broken, so that they ceased at their appointed times, could His covenant with David His servant and with the Levitical priests be broken (33:20-21). Answering the taunt that the LORD has cast off the two chosen families (33:24), He declares that as surely as He has established day and night and the settled pattern of sky and land, He will not reject the offspring of Jacob and David but will restore them and show compassion (33:25-26). The argument parallels 31:35-36 and Psalm 89:36-37 and rests on the post-flood pledge that the cycle of day and night will not cease (Genesis 8:22).
- Jeremiah 33:20-21 (BSB)““This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.”God says His covenant with David and the Levites can be broken only if His covenant with day and night can be broken.
- Jeremiah 33:24-26 (BSB)““Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.””God answers the claim that He has cast off the two families by pointing again to His covenant with day and night.
- Jeremiah 31:35-36 (BSB)“Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name: “Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.””God similarly ties Israel's continued existence as a nation to the fixed order of sun, moon, and stars.
- Psalm 89:36-37 (BSB)“his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun, like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah”The psalm compares the lasting of David's throne to the sun and moon in the sky.
- Genesis 8:22 (BSB)“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.””After the flood God promised that day and night would never cease while the earth endures.
General
What does God promise in 33:17-18 about David's throne and the Levitical priests?
Answer: Each would never be without a man to fill its role
God promises that David's family will never be without a man to reign on Israel's throne, and that the Levitical priests will always have a man to stand before Him presenting burnt offerings, grain offerings, and other sacrifices (33:17-18). The Levites were the tribe set apart for temple service, and the priests came from among them. These promises were spoken while the city and its throne were about to fall. They recall earlier promises: God's oath that David's house and throne would last forever (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalm 89:3-4), and His covenant of lasting priesthood with Phinehas, a priest of Levi's line (Numbers 25:13). God adds that He will multiply David's line and the Levitical servants beyond counting, like the stars of the sky and the grains of sand on the shore (33:22).
- Jeremiah 33:17-18 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.””God promises that David's throne and the Levitical priesthood will always have a man to fill them.
- 2 Samuel 7:16 (BSB)“Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.””God first promised David that his house, kingdom, and throne would endure forever.
- Psalm 89:3-4 (BSB)“You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah”The psalm recalls God's sworn covenant to establish David's offspring and his throne through every generation.
- Numbers 25:13 (BSB)“It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.””God gave Phinehas and his descendants a lasting covenant of priesthood.
Theological
What permanence does 33:17-18 promise for the Davidic throne and the Levitical priesthood?
Answer: Each would never be without a man to fill its role
God pledges that David's line will always supply a man for Israel's throne and that the Levitical priests will always have someone in His presence to present burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrifices (33:17-18). Spoken on the eve of the monarchy's collapse, the pledge recalls prior covenants: the Davidic promise of an eternal house and throne (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalm 89:3-4) and the covenant of perpetual priesthood granted to Phinehas (Numbers 25:13). The LORD adds that He will multiply the offspring of David and the ministering Levites beyond counting, like the stars and the sand (33:22).
- Jeremiah 33:17-18 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.””God promises that David's throne and the Levitical priesthood will always have a man to fill them.
- 2 Samuel 7:16 (BSB)“Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.””God first promised David that his house, kingdom, and throne would endure forever.
- Psalm 89:3-4 (BSB)“You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah”The psalm recalls God's sworn covenant to establish David's offspring and his throne through every generation.
- Numbers 25:13 (BSB)“It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.””God gave Phinehas and his descendants a lasting covenant of priesthood.
General
After saying He has hidden His face from Jerusalem (33:4-5), what does the LORD promise to bring to the city?
Answer: God would bring health, healing, and abundant peace and truth
God does not pretend the coming judgment will be light. The houses pulled down for defense will be filled with the bodies of men He strikes down in His anger, because He has hidden His face from the city for all its wickedness (33:4-5). To hide His face means to withdraw His favor and help. Yet God immediately adds that He will bring health and healing to the city, make its people well, and show them abundant peace and truth (33:6). He promised the same healing in 30:17. The God who wounds is the same God who heals (Hosea 6:1), and His anger lasts a moment while His compassion is lasting (Isaiah 54:7-8).
- Jeremiah 33:4-6 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword: The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill those places with the corpses of the men I will strike down in My anger and in My wrath. I have hidden My face from this city because of all its wickedness. Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.”God confirms that the city will be filled with the dead because He has hidden His face, yet He promises to heal it.
- Jeremiah 30:17 (BSB)“But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.””God promises to restore Zion's health and heal her wounds.
- Isaiah 54:7-8 (BSB)““For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.”God hid His face for a moment in anger but will have compassion with everlasting kindness.
- Hosea 6:1 (BSB)“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.”The God who has torn and wounded His people is the one who will heal and bind them up.
Theological
What does the LORD promise in 33:6, following His declaration that He has hidden His face from the city?
Answer: God would bring health, healing, and abundant peace and truth
Judgment and restoration stand side by side. The siege will fill the dismantled houses with the slain, for God has hidden His face from the city because of its wickedness (33:4-5); yet He will bring health and healing, restore its people, and show them peace and truth in abundance (33:6). The same God who withdraws His favor in righteous anger restores it in mercy, as in 30:17, in Hosea's confession that He who has torn will heal (Hosea 6:1), and in Isaiah's contrast between a moment of hidden face and everlasting compassion (Isaiah 54:7-8).
- Jeremiah 33:4-6 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword: The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill those places with the corpses of the men I will strike down in My anger and in My wrath. I have hidden My face from this city because of all its wickedness. Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.”God confirms that the city will be filled with the dead because He has hidden His face, yet He promises to heal it.
- Jeremiah 30:17 (BSB)“But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.””God promises to restore Zion's health and heal her wounds.
- Isaiah 54:7-8 (BSB)““For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.”God hid His face for a moment in anger but will have compassion with everlasting kindness.
- Hosea 6:1 (BSB)“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.”The God who has torn and wounded His people is the one who will heal and bind them up.
General
According to 33:14-15, what will the righteous Branch that God raises up for David do?
Answer: Do what is just and right throughout the land
God promises that a time is coming when He will keep the good promise He made to Israel and Judah (33:14). He will make a righteous Branch spring up in David's line, a new king from his family, who will do what is just and right throughout the land (33:15). Then Judah will be rescued, Jerusalem will live in safety, and the city will be called by the name The LORD Our Righteousness (33:16). In the similar promise of 23:5-6 that name belongs to the King Himself, while here it is the name given to Jerusalem. Isaiah also speaks of a Branch from Jesse's line (Isaiah 11:1). Many Christians have seen this promise fulfilled in Jesus, the Son of David who receives David's throne forever (Luke 1:32-33), and have connected the name with Christ, who has become righteousness for His people (1 Corinthians 1:30).
- Jeremiah 33:14-16 (BSB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the gracious promise that I have spoken to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.”God promises to fulfill His good word by raising up a righteous Branch for David and names what Jerusalem will be called.
- Jeremiah 23:5-6 (BSB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.”The earlier Branch promise gives the name to the King Himself.
- Isaiah 11:1 (BSB)“Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.”Isaiah also pictures a Branch growing from the line of Jesse, David's father.
- Luke 1:32-33 (BSB)“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!””Gabriel announces that God will give Jesus the throne of David and that He will reign forever.
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 (BSB)“It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”Paul says Christ has become righteousness for those who are in Him.
Theological
What task is assigned in 33:15 to the righteous Branch whom God raises up for David?
Answer: Do what is just and right throughout the land
The LORD pledges to perform the good word spoken to Israel and Judah (33:14) by raising up a righteous Branch for David who will do what is just and right throughout the land (33:15). In that time Judah is rescued, Jerusalem dwells securely, and the city bears the name The LORD Our Righteousness (33:16). Whereas 23:5-6 gives the name to the King, 33:16 applies it to Jerusalem. Isaiah's Branch growing from Jesse's stump belongs to the same hope (Isaiah 11:1). Many Christians have seen the fulfillment in Jesus, to whom God gives David's throne (Luke 1:32-33), and have associated the name with Christ, made our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30).
- Jeremiah 33:14-16 (BSB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the gracious promise that I have spoken to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.”God promises to fulfill His good word by raising up a righteous Branch for David and names what Jerusalem will be called.
- Jeremiah 23:5-6 (BSB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.”The earlier Branch promise gives the name to the King Himself.
- Isaiah 11:1 (BSB)“Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.”Isaiah also pictures a Branch growing from the line of Jesse, David's father.
- Luke 1:32-33 (BSB)“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!””Gabriel announces that God will give Jesus the throne of David and that He will reign forever.
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 (BSB)“It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”Paul says Christ has become righteousness for those who are in Him.
General
True or False: In 33:12-13, God promises that the desolate land will again have pastures where shepherds rest their flocks.
Answer: True
This is true. God says that in this ruined place, now empty of people and animals, there will again be pastures where shepherds rest their flocks (33:12). Across the hills, the lowlands, the Negev, Benjamin, the area around Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, flocks will once more pass under the hand of the shepherd who counts them (33:13). The picture is of peaceful, ordinary country life restored. God uses the same shepherd language elsewhere for gathering His scattered people and bringing them home to good pasture (23:3; Ezekiel 34:13-14).
- Jeremiah 33:12-13 (BSB)“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: In this desolate place, without man or beast, and in all its cities, there will once more be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.”God promises pastures for shepherds and flocks counted again throughout the land now desolate.
- Jeremiah 23:3 (BSB)“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.”God promises to gather what remains of His flock and bring them back to their pasture.
- Ezekiel 34:13-14 (BSB)“I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land. I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.”God promises to bring His people home and feed them on rich grazing land in their own country.
Theological
True or False: According to 33:12-13, the desolate land will once more have pastures with shepherds resting their flocks.
Answer: True
This is true. The land now desolate will again have pasture where shepherds rest their flocks (33:12), and throughout the hills, lowlands, Negev, Benjamin, the environs of Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, flocks will again be counted by their shepherd's hand (33:13). The image of peaceful pastoral life signals the full reversal of the devastation, and it echoes the LORD's wider shepherd promises to regather His flock to its pasture (23:3; Ezekiel 34:13-14).
- Jeremiah 33:12-13 (BSB)“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: In this desolate place, without man or beast, and in all its cities, there will once more be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.”God promises pastures for shepherds and flocks counted again throughout the land now desolate.
- Jeremiah 23:3 (BSB)“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.”God promises to gather what remains of His flock and bring them back to their pasture.
- Ezekiel 34:13-14 (BSB)“I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land. I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.”God promises to bring His people home and feed them on rich grazing land in their own country.
General
In 33:10-11, which sounds does God promise will again be heard in the deserted streets of Jerusalem and Judah?
Answer: Wedding voices and the songs of worshipers with thank offerings
The people call the land a wasteland with no people or animals (33:10). God answers that in those empty streets there will again be the noise of rejoicing and celebration, the happy voices of weddings, and worshipers carrying thank offerings to the LORD's house and singing His praise (33:11). Earlier God had warned that He would silence exactly these sounds as part of the judgment (7:34; 16:9). Now He promises to bring them back. The song of thanks they sing, praising the LORD for His goodness and lasting loving devotion, is a well-known refrain of Israel's worship (Psalm 136:1).
- Jeremiah 33:10-11 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted—inhabited by neither man nor beast—there will be heard again the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.”In the place now called a wasteland, the sounds of weddings and thanksgiving will return.
- Jeremiah 7:34 (BSB)“I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.””God had warned that He would take away the sounds of gladness and of bride and bridegroom from Judah.
- Jeremiah 16:9 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”The same sounds were to be silenced in Jeremiah's own day as part of the judgment.
- Psalm 136:1 (BSB)“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His loving devotion endures forever.”The song of thanks the returning worshipers sing is the familiar refrain of Israel's praise.
Theological
What sounds does God promise in 33:10-11 will return to the desolate streets of Judah?
Answer: Wedding voices and the songs of worshipers with thank offerings
In the place the people describe as desolate and empty of people and animals (33:10), God promises the return of rejoicing and celebration, of wedding voices, and of worshipers carrying thank offerings to the LORD's house with Israel's familiar song of praise (33:11; Psalm 136:1). The promise deliberately reverses Jeremiah's earlier oracles of judgment, which announced the silencing of these very sounds (7:34; 16:9). Ordinary family life and grateful worship together mark the restored community.
- Jeremiah 33:10-11 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: In this place you say is a wasteland without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted—inhabited by neither man nor beast—there will be heard again the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.”In the place now called a wasteland, the sounds of weddings and thanksgiving will return.
- Jeremiah 7:34 (BSB)“I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.””God had warned that He would take away the sounds of gladness and of bride and bridegroom from Judah.
- Jeremiah 16:9 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”The same sounds were to be silenced in Jeremiah's own day as part of the judgment.
- Psalm 136:1 (BSB)“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His loving devotion endures forever.”The song of thanks the returning worshipers sing is the familiar refrain of Israel's praise.