Jeremiah 30:4-17

4These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

5“This is what the LORD says: “ ‘Cries of fear are heard— terror, not peace.

6Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale?

7How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.

8“ ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.

9Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10“ ‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the LORD . ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.

11I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD . ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

12“This is what the LORD says: “ ‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.

13There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.

14All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many.

15Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.

16“ ‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil.

17But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’