Jeremiah 31
31
Hope for Restoration
1“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people. 2This is what the Lord says:
“Those who survive the coming destruction
will find blessings even in the barren land,
for I will give rest to the people of Israel.”
3Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
4I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.
You will again be happy
and dance merrily with your tambourines.
5Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria
and eat from your own gardens there.
6The day will come when watchmen will shout
from the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem#31:6 Hebrew Zion; also in 31:12.
to worship the Lord our God.’”
7Now this is what the Lord says:
“Sing with joy for Israel.#31:7 Hebrew Jacob; also in 31:11. See note on 5:20.
Shout for the greatest of nations!
Shout out with praise and joy:
‘Save your people, O Lord,
the remnant of Israel!’
8For I will bring them from the north
and from the distant corners of the earth.
I will not forget the blind and lame,
the expectant mothers and women in labor.
A great company will return!
9Tears of joy will stream down their faces,
and I will lead them home with great care.
They will walk beside quiet streams
and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.
For I am Israel’s father,
and Ephraim is my oldest child.
10“Listen to this message from the Lord,
you nations of the world;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
The Lord, who scattered his people,
will gather them and watch over them
as a shepherd does his flock.
11For the Lord has redeemed Israel
from those too strong for them.
12They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem.
They will be radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts—
the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil,
and the healthy flocks and herds.
Their life will be like a watered garden,
and all their sorrows will be gone.
13The young women will dance for joy,
and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.
14The priests will enjoy abundance,
and my people will feast on my good gifts.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Rachel’s Sadness Turns to Joy
15This is what the Lord says:
“A cry is heard in Ramah—
deep anguish and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted—
for her children are gone.”
16But now this is what the Lord says:
“Do not weep any longer,
for I will reward you,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come back to you
from the distant land of the enemy.
17There is hope for your future,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come again to their own land.
18I have heard Israel#31:18 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 31:20. saying,
‘You disciplined me severely,
like a calf that needs training for the yoke.
Turn me again to you and restore me,
for you alone are the Lord my God.
19I turned away from God,
but then I was sorry.
I kicked myself for my stupidity!
I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.’
20“Is not Israel still my son,
my darling child?” says the Lord.
“I often have to punish him,
but I still love him.
That’s why I long for him
and surely will have mercy on him.
21Set up road signs;
put up guideposts.
Mark well the path
by which you came.
Come back again, my virgin Israel;
return to your towns here.
22How long will you wander,
my wayward daughter?
For the Lord will cause something new to happen—
Israel will embrace her God.#31:22 Hebrew a woman will surround a man.”
23This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!’ 24Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness. 25For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”
26At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet.
27“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah. 28In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up. I, the Lord, have spoken!
29“The people will no longer quote this proverb:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’
30All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker.
31“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
33“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
35It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day
and the moon and stars to light the night,
and who stirs the sea into roaring waves.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
and this is what he says:
36“I am as likely to reject my people Israel
as I am to abolish the laws of nature!”
37This is what the Lord says:
“Just as the heavens cannot be measured
and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored,
so I will not consider casting them away
for the evil they have done.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
38“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39A measuring line will be stretched out over the hill of Gareb and across to Goah. 40And the entire area—including the graveyard and ash dump in the valley, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the Horse Gate—will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be captured or destroyed.”
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Jeremiah 31: NLT
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Jeremiah 31
31
The Exiles Return
1#Jer 30:22; Ge 17:7–8At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.
2#Nu 10:33; Dt 1:33Thus says the Lord:
The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness,
when I went to give Israel rest.
3#Hos 11:4; Mal 1:2The Lord has appeared to him from afar, saying:
Indeed, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
4#Jer 31:13; 33:7 Again I will build you
and you will be built, O virgin of Israel.
You will again be adorned with your tambourines
and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.
5#Am 9:14; Dt 28:30 You will yet plant vines
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters will plant
and will enjoy them.
6#Jer 50:4–5 For there will be a day when the watchmen
on the hills of Ephraim will proclaim,
“Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.”
7#Ps 14:7; 28:9For thus says the Lord:
Sing with gladness for Jacob,
and shout among the chief of the nations;
publish, praise, and say,
“O Lord, save Your people,
the remnant of Israel.”
8#Isa 42:16; Jer 23:8 See, I will bring them from the north country,
and gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
and with them the blind and the lame,
the woman with child and her who is in labor with child, together;
a great company will return here.
9#Jer 3:4; Ex 4:22; Isa 63:13 They will come with weeping,
and with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters,
in a straight way in which they shall not stumble.
For I am a Father to Israel,
and Ephraim is My firstborn.
10#Isa 40:11; 66:19; Eze 34:12 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far off, and say,
“He who scattered Israel will gather him
and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.”
11#Isa 44:23; 48:20 For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and ransomed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12#Isa 35:10; 58:11; 65:19 Therefore they will come and sing in the height of Zion,
and will be joyful over the goodness of the Lord,
for wheat and for wine and for oil
and for the young of the flock and of the herd;
and their souls will be as a watered garden.
And they will not sorrow any more at all.
13#Ps 30:11; Isa 51:11 Then the virgin shall rejoice in the dance,
both young men and old together;
for I will turn their mourning into joy,
and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14#Jer 31:25 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness,
says the Lord.
15#Jos 18:25; Ge 37:35Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
16#Ru 2:12; Jer 30:3Thus says the Lord:
Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears;
for your work shall be rewarded,
says the Lord,
and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17There is hope for your future,
says the Lord,
that your children will come back to their own border.
18#Ps 80:3; Job 5:17 I have surely heard Ephraim pleading:
“You have chastised me,
and I was chastised, as an untrained calf;
turn me back and I will be turned,
for you are the Lord my God.
19#Jer 3:25; Eze 36:31; 21:12 Surely after I turned back,
I repented;
and after I was instructed,
I struck myself on my thigh;
I was ashamed and even humiliated
because I bore the reproach of my youth.”
20#Isa 55:7; 63:15 Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For since I spoke against him,
I surely do remember him still;
therefore My heart longs for him.
I will surely have mercy on him,
says the Lord.
21#Jer 50:5; Isa 48:20 Set up road marks,
place guideposts.
Set your heart toward the highway,
even the way by which you went.
Turn back, O virgin of Israel,
turn back to these your cities.
22#Jer 2:23; 3:6 How long will you go about,
O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth:
A woman shall obtain a man.
23#Zec 8:3; Isa 1:26; Jer 50:7Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Once again they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities when I restore their fortunes: “May the Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness and mountain of holiness!” 24#Zec 8:4–8; Eze 36:10And Judah and all its cities will dwell there, the farmer and those who go out with the flocks. 25#Jer 31:14; Jn 4:14For I satiate the weary souls and I replenish every languishing soul.
26Upon this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was sweet to me.
27#Hos 2:23; Eze 36:9Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28#Jer 1:10; 44:27It shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord. 29#La 5:7; Eze 18:2–3In those days they will say no more:
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30#Isa 3:11; Eze 18:4But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth will be set on edge.
A New Covenant
31#Lk 22:20; Jer 32:40 Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32#Dt 1:31; 5:3 It will not be according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
because they broke My covenant,
although I was a husband to them,
says the Lord.
33#2Co 3:3; Heb 10:16 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My law within them
and write it in their hearts;
and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
34#Isa 54:13; Jer 33:8 They shall teach no more every man his neighbor
and every man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”
for they all shall know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the Lord,
for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.
35#Isa 51:15; Jer 10:16Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun
for a light by day
and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars
for a light by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that the waves roar,
the Lord of Hosts is His name:
36#Isa 54:9–10; Jer 33:20–26 If those ordinances depart from before Me,
says the Lord,
then the seed of Israel also will cease
from being a nation before Me forever.
37#Jer 33:22; 33:24–26Thus says the Lord:
If heaven above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also cast off all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done,
says the Lord.
38#2Ki 14:13; Zec 14:10Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the city will be built to the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39#Zec 2:1–2The measuring line shall stretch out straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40#2Sa 15:23; Joel 3:17The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, will be holy to the Lord. It will not be plucked up nor thrown down any more forever.
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