1 Now Jeremiah was still locked up in the courtyard of the guards. And the Lord spoke his word to him a second time:
2 “The Lord made the earth. He made it, and he keeps it safe. The Lord is his name. This is what the Lord says:
3 ‘Judah, pray to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you important secrets. You have never heard these things before.’
4 The Lord is the God of Israel. He says these things about the houses in Jerusalem and the royal palaces of Judah. They have been torn down to be used against the attack by the Babylonian army.
5 The Lord says, ‘Some people will come to fight against the Babylonians. They will fill these houses with dead bodies. I killed those people in my hot anger. I have turned away from this city because of all the evil its people have done.
6 “‘But then I will bring health and heal the people there. I will let them enjoy peace and safety.
7 I will make good things happen to Judah and Israel again. I will make them strong as in the past.