Jeremiah 31
31
The New Israel
1The Lord says, “At that time I will be God of all Israel’s family groups. And they will be my people.”
2This is what the Lord says:
“Some of the people were not killed by the enemy’s sword.
Those people will find help in the desert.
I have come to give rest to Israel.”
3And from far away the Lord appeared to his people. He said,
“I love you people
with a love that will last forever.
I became your friend
because of my love and kindness.
4People of Israel, I will build you up again,
and you will be rebuilt.
You will pick up your tambourines again.
You will dance with those who are joyful.
5You will plant vineyards again
on the hills around Samaria.
The farmers will plant them
and enjoy their fruit.
6There will be a time when watchmen in the mountains of Ephraim shout this message:
‘Come, let’s go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God!’”
7This is what the Lord says:
“Be happy and sing for the people of Jacob.
Shout for Israel, the greatest of the nations.
Sing your praises and shout this:
‘Lord, save your people!
Save those who are left alive from the nation of Israel!’
8Look, I will bring Israel from the country in the north.
I will gather them from the faraway places on earth.
Some of the people are blind and crippled.
Some of the women will be pregnant and ready to give birth.
A great many people will come back.
9Those people will be crying as they come back.
But they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead those people by streams of water.
I will lead them on an even road where they will not stumble.
This is because I am Israel’s father.
And Israel is my firstborn son.
10“Nations, listen to the message from the Lord.
Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea:
‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will bring them back together.
And he will watch over his people like a shepherd.’
11The Lord will bring the people of Jacob back.
The Lord will buy them back from people stronger than they were.
12The people of Israel will come to the high points of Jerusalem.
There they will shout for joy.
Their faces will shine with happiness about all the good things from the Lord:
the grain, new wine, oil, young sheep and cows.
They will be like a garden that has plenty of water.
And the people of Israel will not be troubled anymore.
13Then young women of Israel will be happy and dance.
The young men and old men will also dance.
I will change their sadness into happiness.
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sadness.
14The priests will have more than enough sacrifices.
And my people will be filled with the good things I give them!” says the Lord.
15This is what the Lord says:
“A sound was heard in Ramah.
It was painful crying and much sadness.
Rachel cries for her children.
And she cannot be comforted,
because her children are dead!”
16But this is what the Lord says:
“Stop crying.
Don’t let your eyes fill with tears.
You will be rewarded for your work!” says the Lord.
“The people will come back from their enemy’s land.
17So there is hope for you!” says the Lord.
“Your children will come back to their own land.
18“I have heard Israel moaning:
‘Lord, you punished me, and I have learned my lesson.
I was like a calf that had never been trained.
Take me back, and I will come back.
You truly are the Lord my God.
19Lord, I wandered away from you.
But I changed my heart and life.
Once I understood,
I beat my breast with sorrow.
I am ashamed and disgraced
because of the foolish things I did when I was young.’
20“You know that Israel is my dear son.
I love that child.
Yes, I often speak against Israel,
but I still remember him.
I love him very much.
And I want to comfort him,” says the Lord.
21“People of Israel, fix the road signs.
Put up the signs that show you the way home.
Watch the road.
Pay attention to the road on which you travel.
People of Israel, come home.
Come back to your towns.
22You are an unfaithful daughter.
How long will you wander before you come home?
The Lord will make something new happen in the land:
A woman will go seeking a man.”
23The Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: “I will again do good things for the people of Judah. At that time the people in the land of Judah and its towns will again say: ‘May the Lord bless you. You are a righteous dwelling. You are a holy mountain.’ 24People in all the towns of Judah will live together in peace. Farmers and those who move around with their flocks will live together in peace. 25I will give rest and strength to those who are weak and tired.”
26After hearing that, I, Jeremiah, woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very pleasant.
27The Lord says, “The days are coming when I will help the families of Israel and Judah to grow. I will help their children and animals to grow, too. It will be like planting and caring for a plant. 28In the past I watched over Israel and Judah, but I watched for the time to pull them up. I tore them down. I destroyed them. I brought disaster to them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and make them strong,” says the Lord.
29“At that time people will no longer say:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes.
And that caused the children to grind their teeth from the sour taste.’
30But each person will die for his own sin. The person who eats sour grapes will grind his own teeth.
The New Agreement
31“Look, the time is coming,” says the Lord,
“when I will make a new agreement.
It will be with the people of Israel
and the people of Judah.
32It will not be like the agreement
I made with their ancestors.
That was when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of Egypt.
I was a husband to them,
but they broke that agreement,” says the Lord.
33“I will make this agreement
with the people of Israel,” says the Lord.
“I will put my teachings in their minds.
And I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34People will no longer have to teach their neighbors and relatives
to know the Lord.
This is because all people will know me,
from the least to the most important,” says the Lord.
“I will forgive them for the wicked things they did.
I will not remember their sins anymore.”
The Lord Will Never Leave Israel
35This is what the Lord says:
“The Lord makes the sun shine in the day.
And he makes the moon and stars shine at night.
He stirs up the sea so that its waves crash on the shore.
The Lord of heaven’s armies is his name.
36“Only if these laws should ever fail,”
says the Lord,
“will Israel’s descendants stop
being a nation before me.”
37This is what the Lord says:
“There’s only one way I will reject all the descendants of Israel.
That is if people can measure the sky above.
It is if they can learn the secrets of the earth below.
Then I will reject them because of what they have done,” says the Lord.
The New Jerusalem
38The Lord says, “The days are coming when Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me. Everything from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate will be rebuilt. 39The measuring line will stretch from the Corner Gate straight to the hill of Gareb. Then it will turn to the place named Goah. 40There is the whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown. It will be holy to the Lord. And all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley will be included. They are on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate. All that area will be holy to the Lord. The city of Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.”
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Jeremiah 31: ICB
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Jeremiah 31
31
Saving the Remnant
1Thus says Adonai: “The people surviving the sword found grace in the wilderness— where I gave Israel rest.”
2“From afar Adonai appeared to me.” “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
3Again I will build you, so you will be rebuilt, virgin Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines as ornaments, and go out to dances of merrymakers.
4Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria— planters will plant and use them.
5For there will be a day when watchmen will call out in the hill country of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to Adonai our God.’”
6For thus says Adonai: “Sing aloud with joy for Jacob! Shout with the chief of the nations! Proclaim, give praise, and say: ‘Adonai, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’
7Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and I will gather them from the ends of the earth— among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant together with she who is in labor with child. A great throng will return here.
8With weeping and supplications they will come. I will bring them, leading them to walk by streams of water on a straight path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
9Hear the word of Adonai, O nations, and declare it in the distant islands, and say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather and watch over him, as a shepherd does his flock.’
10For Adonai has ransomed Jacob. He redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
11They will come and sing on Zion’s height, radiant over the bounty of Adonai— over the grain, the wine, the oil, and the young of the flock. Their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again.
12Then will the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old men together. For I will turn their mourning into joy, and I will comfort them, and make them rejoice out of their sorrow.
13I will fill the soul of the kohanim with fatness and My people will be satisfied with My goodness.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
Grief Turned to Joy
14Thus says Adonai: “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.”
15Thus says Adonai: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears. For your work will be rewarded” —it is declaration of Adonai— “when they will return from the land of the enemy.
16So there is hope for your future” —it is declaration of Adonai— “when your children will return to their own territory.
17I indeed heard Ephraim grieving: ‘You have disciplined me— I was disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and I will return, for you are Adonai my God.
18For after I returned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I struck my thigh— I was ashamed and also humiliated, for I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
19Is Ephraim a precious son to Me? Is he a delightful child? For as often as I spoke against him, I still certainly remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him. I will surely have compassion on him.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
20Erect road markers, set up signposts! Set your heart toward the highway, the way by which you traveled! Return, O virgin Israel, return to your cities.
21How long will you waver, O backsliding daughter? For Adonai has created a new thing on earth: a woman surrounds a man.
22Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Yet again will they use this expression in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I will return them from exile: ‘Adonai bless you, O dwelling of righteousness, O mountain of holiness.’
23Judah and all its cities will dwell there together—the farmer and those who go about with flocks.
24For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul will refresh.”
25At this point I awoke, and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.
26“Behold, days are coming”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.
27Now just as I have watched over them to uproot and to pull down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to bring disaster, then I will watch over them to build and to plant,” says Adonai.
28“In those days they will no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are blunted.’
29Rather each will die for his own iniquity: if anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be blunted.”
New Covenant Foretold
30“Behold, days are coming” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
31not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they broke My covenant, though I was a husband to them.” it is a declaration of Adonai.
32“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “I will put My Torah within them. Yes, I will write it on their heart. I will be their God and they will be My people.
33No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “For I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.”
34Thus says Adonai, who gives the sun as a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars as a light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:
35“Only if this fixed order departs from before Me” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “then also might Israel’s offspring cease from being a nation before Me—for all time.”
36Thus says Adonai: “Only if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then also I will cast off the offspring of Israel—for all they have done.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
37“Behold, days are coming”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“when the city will be rebuilt for Adonai, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
38The measuring line will go out farther, straight to the Gareb Hill, then turn to Goah.
39Then the whole valley—the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields up to the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east—will be holy to Adonai. It will never be uprooted or thrown down again—forever.”
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society