1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): 3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:1–3 (NKJV) 

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time (and he was still confined in the court of the guard), saying, 2 “This is what the Lord said, who makes the earth and forms it to establish it; the Lord is his name: 3 ‘Cry out to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know.’ Jeremiah 40:1–3 (LES2) 

This chapter shows clearly how the Masoretes were willing to corrupt the Scriptures to push ahead their agenda. Verses 14-26 in the MT do not even exist in the LXX.

The LXX clarifies what God makes/made, which is the earth. Other than that, this passage is in agreement.

4 “For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 5 ‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. Jeremiah 33:4–5 (NKJV)

4 Because this is what the Lord said concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the king of Judah, which have been taken down for stakes and fortifications 5 to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill it with the corpses of the people whom I struck in my wrath and in my anger, and I turned back my face from them for all their evils: Jeremiah 40:4–5 (LES2)

6 Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. 8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Jeremiah 33:6–8 (NKJV)

6 ‘Look, I myself am bringing healing and remedy to her (and I will make it evident to them, and I will cure her) and peace and faith. 7 And I will return the exile of Judah and the exile of Israel, and I will build them just as also the former time. 8 And I will cleanse them from all their injustices that they sinned against me, and I shall not remember their sins with which they sinned against me and withdrew from me. Jeremiah 40:6–8 (LES2)

The wording of verse 6 in the MT appears to flow better. There is disagreement on one word. Instead of truth, the LXX uses the word for faith. Verse 7 agrees. In verse 8, at the end, the MT says “by which they transgressed against me,” but the LXX says, “by which they withdrew from me.” In addition, the MT says, “I will pardon their iniquities,” but the LXX hearkens back to Jeremiah chapter 31/38, where the New Covenant is introduced, when it says, “I shall not remember their sins.”

The New Covenant was inaugurated by Jesus’ blood being poured out on Calvary to expiate our sins. (Matthew 26:28, 1 Peter 1:18-19) The Old Covenant sacrifices were unable to accomplish this. (Hebrews 10:4) Therefore, this passage indirectly points us to Christ.

9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’ Jeremiah 33:9 (NKJV)

9 And it will be for cheer and praise, and for majesty to all the people of the earth, whoever will hear all the good things that I will do. And they will fear and be embittered concerning all the good and concerning all the peace that I will make for them.’ Jeremiah 40:9 (LES2)

Once again the MT editorializes and adds “to me a name of” to focus on the nation of Israel. The MT uses the word “goy” (nations) while the LXX uses the broader term, “laos” (people). The comparable Greek word for nations would have been “ethnos.” The MT says the people who observe the good things God does for Israel will tremble or be agitated. The LXX says they will be embittered. The MT translates “shalom” as prosperity in the NKJV and as peace in the NASB, but the LXX uses the Greek word for peace, revealing how the Jewish translators of the LXX viewed this use of “shalom,” which can have multiple meanings.

10 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: “Praise the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good, For His mercy endures forever”— and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the LORD. Jeremiah 33:10–11 (NKJV)

10 This is what the Lord said: ‘There will yet be heard in this place of which you say, “It is a desert without humans and animals in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem that are deserted, with the result that there is no human or animals,” 11 a sound of cheer and a sound of gladness, a voice of a bridegroom and a voice of a bride, a voice saying, “Acknowledge the Lord Almighty, because the Lord is precious, because his mercy is for eternity”; and they will bring gifts to the house of the Lord, because I will return all the exile of that land according to the former time,’ said the Lord. Jeremiah 40:10–11 (LES2)

The MT and LXX agree in this passage except in a couple of places. In verse 11, the MT says, “Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good.” The LXX says, “Acknowledge the Lord Almighty because the Lord is precious.” The Greek word translated “acknowledge” is exhomolegeomai, which means to confess.This is the same verb (homolegeomai) used in Philippians 2:11 regarding confessing that Jesus is Lord. Confession is a faith proclamation. Praise can be an expression or confession of faith as well.

The LXX translators used the English world “precious” in place of the MT word, “good.” The Greek is chrestos, which can mean good, kind, or precious. It seems to have more depth of meaning than simply using the rather innocuous word “good.”

Next the MT uses the phrase “sacrifice of praise” for what the returning exiles will bring to God’s house. The LXX says “gifts.”

12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the LORD. Jeremiah 33:12–13 (NKJV)

12 This is what the Lord of power said: ‘There will be lodgings for shepherds resting their sheep in this desert place where no person or cattle are, in all its cities. 13 Sheep will yet pass under the hand of he who counts, in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah,’ said the Lord.” Jeremiah 40:12–13 (LES2)

This passage basically agrees. However, this is the end of the chapter in the LXX. The MT continues for verses 14-26, which is a passage used by many Zionists and Dispensationalists. 

14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: 15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ 17 “For thus says the LORD: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ” 19 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’ ” 23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them. 25 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ” Jeremiah 33:14–26 (NKJV)

It should be clear why the Masoretes added this passage of text to Jeremiah. The MT was completed in the year 1000, about 900 years after the Jews were completely expelled from the land of Israel following the failure of the Bar Kohkba revolt in 135 AD. The land had been renamed Palestine by the Romans. The rabbis wanted to keep alive a manufactured promise of the restoration of the priesthood and sacrifices, which God ended in 70 AD when the temple was destroyed. Sadly, these manufactured prophetic words are often quoted by Dispensationalists and Christian Zionists as proof texts for their erroneous doctrines that deny the truth of the New Covenant. All Scriptures points to Christ (John 5:39). Since his resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, has been the center of God’s activity on earth. The ancient nation of Israel served its purpose to husband God’s Word and to provide the biological line for the Messiah. Since then, Israel was meant to recede into the background, just as John the Baptist did when Christ appeared on the scene. How tragic it would have been had John sought to compete with Jesus for the limelight! The Jews hate Jesus to this day, except for the remnant who are part of the church. They still see themselves as the center of what God is doing and will do. This passage is a perfect illustration of this.

The rabbis sold Jerome on the concept of “Hebrew truth,” which convinced him that the MT was the mist genuine version of the Old Testament, rather than the inferior LXX. Since then, in the West, we have believed that ruse. How could we place our trust in a group who despises Jesus? The Scriptures say that those who reject Jesus also reject the Father. (1 John 2:22-23) We should never rely on those who serve another god to be the custodian of God’s truth. The LXX was used by the early church. It should be good enough for us, too.