Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
World English Bible (WEB)
On Jeremiah 29:11: the context of the promise "to give you hope and a future," its place in a letter written to a people in exile, and why it is read in hard days.
Jeremiah 29:11 is often cited as a promise of hope for the future. Its context makes that hope stronger still: the words appear inside a letter written to a people torn from their homeland and sent into exile.
The prophet says the exile will not end quickly; he counsels the people to build houses there and to wait. It is right in the middle of this realistic frame that a promise of long-term good and a future is spoken.
You can move to the chapter below to see how the verse reads together with this letter. Related collections on hope and waiting bridge to other verses on the same theme.