Jeremiah 31
31
Israel Will Return to God
1The Lord said:
Israel, I promise
that someday all your tribes
will again be my people,
and I will be your God.
2In the desert I was kind
to those who escaped death.
I gave them peace,
and when the time is right,
I'll do the same for you.#31.2 In the desert … same for you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord Will Rebuild Israel
3Some time ago, the Lord appeared to me#31.3 Some time … me: Or “The Lord appeared to me from far away.” and told me to say:
Israel, I will always love you;
that's why I've been so patient
and kind.
4You are precious to me,
and so I will rebuild
your nation.
Once again you will dance for joy
and play your tambourines.
5You will plant vineyards
on the hills of Samaria
and enjoy the grapes.
6Someday those who guard
the hill country of Ephraim
will shout, “Let's go to Zion
and worship the Lord our God.”
Israel Will Return to Its Own Land
7The Lord says:
Celebrate and sing for Israel,
the greatest of nations.
Offer praises and shout,
“Come and rescue
your people, Lord!
Save what's left of Israel.”
8I, the Lord, will bring
my people back from Babylonia#31.8 Babylonia: The Hebrew text has “that country in the north,” referring to Babylonia.
and everywhere else on earth.
The blind and the lame
will be there.
Expectant mothers
and women about to give birth
will come and be part
of that great crowd.
9They will weep and pray
as I bring them home.
I will lead them
to streams of water.
They will walk on a level#31.9 level: Or “straight.” road
and not stumble.
I am a father to Israel,#31.9 Israel: The Hebrew text also has “Ephraim,” the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, which sometimes stands for the whole northern kingdom.
my favorite children.
10Listen to me, you nations
nearby or across the sea.
I scattered the people of Israel,
but I will gather them again.
I will protect them like a shepherd
guarding a flock;
11I will rescue them from enemies
who could overpower them.
12My people will come
to Mount Zion
and celebrate;
their faces will glow
because of my blessings.
I'll give them grain, grapes,
and olive oil,
as well as sheep and cattle.
Israel will be prosperous
and grow like a garden
with plenty of water.
13Young women and young men,
together with the elderly,
will celebrate and dance,
because I will comfort them
and turn their sorrow
into happiness.
14I will bless my people
with more food
than they need,
and the priests will enjoy
the choice cuts of meat.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord Offers Hope
15 #
Gn 35.16-19;
Mt 2.18. In Ramah#31.15 In Ramah: Or “In the hills.” a voice is heard,
crying and weeping loudly.
Rachel mourns for her children#31.15 Rachel … children: Rachel was one of the wives of Jacob, the ancestor of the nation of Israel. She was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh were the ancestors of the leading tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel.
and refuses to be comforted,
because they are dead.
* 16But I, the Lord, say
to dry your tears.
Someday your children
will come home
from the enemy's land.
Then all you have done for them
will be greatly rewarded.
17So don't lose hope.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
18The people of Israel#31.18 Israel: Hebrew “Ephraim” (see the note at 31.9). moan
and say to me,
“We were like wild bulls,
but you, Lord, broke us,
and we learned to obey.
You are our God—
please let us come home.
19When we were young,
we strayed and sinned,
but then we realized
what we had done.
We are ashamed and disgraced
and want to return to you.”
20People of Israel,
you are my own dear children.
Don't I love you best of all?
Though I often make threats,
I want you to be near me,
so I will have mercy on you.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
21With rock piles and signposts,
mark the road well,
my dear people.
The road by which you left
by will now lead you home.
22Will you ever decide
to be faithful?
I will make sure that someday
things will be different,
as different as a woman
protecting a man.#31.22 I will make sure … a woman protecting a man: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
The Lord Will Bring Judah Home
23The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, said:
I promise to set the people of Judah free and to lead them back to their hometowns. And when I do, they will once again say,
“We pray that the Lord
will bless his home,
the sacred hill in Jerusalem
where his temple stands.”
24The people will live in Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah. Some will be farmers, and others will be shepherds. 25Those who feel tired and worn out will find new life and energy, 26and when they sleep, they will wake up refreshed.#31.26 and when they sleep … refreshed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
27Someday, Israel and Judah will be my field where my people and their livestock will grow. 28In the past, I took care to uproot them, to tear them down, and to destroy them. But when that day comes, I will take care to plant them and help them grow. 29#Ez 18.2. No longer will anyone go around saying,
“Sour grapes eaten by parents
leave a sour taste in the mouths
of their children.”
30When that day comes, only those who eat sour grapes will get the sour taste, and only those who sin will be put to death.
The New Agreement with Israel and Judah
31 #
Mt 26.28; Mk 14.24; Lk 22.20; 1 Co 11.25; 2 Co 3.6. #He 8.8-12. The Lord said:
The time will surely come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32It will be different from the agreement I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt. Although I was their God, they broke that agreement.
33 #
He 10.16. Here is the new agreement that I, the Lord, will make with the people of Israel:
“I will write my laws
on their hearts and minds.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 #
He 10.17. “No longer will they have to teach one another to obey me. I, the Lord, promise that all of them will obey me, ordinary people and rulers alike. I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done.”
35I am the Lord All-Powerful.
I command the sun
to give light each day,
the moon and stars
to shine at night,
and ocean waves to roar.
36I will never forget
to give those commands,
and I will never let Israel
stop being a nation.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
37Can you measure the heavens?
Can you explore
the depths of the earth?
That's how hard it would be
for me to reject Israel forever,
even though they have sinned.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
Jerusalem Will Be Rebuilt
38The Lord said:
Someday, Jerusalem will truly belong to me. It will be rebuilt with a boundary line running from Hananel Tower to Corner Gate. 39From there, the boundary will go in a straight line to Gareb Hill, then turn toward Goah. 40Even that disgusting Hinnom Valley#31.40 that disgusting Hinnom Valley: The Hebrew text has “the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the fatty ashes,” which probably refers to Hinnom Valley, just southwest of Jerusalem, where human sacrifices had been offered to foreign gods. will be sacred to me, and so will the eastern slopes that go down from Horse Gate into Kidron Valley. Jerusalem will never again be destroyed.
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Jeremiah 31: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 31
31
Jeremiah 31
1¶ In that time, said the Lord, I will be the God unto all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2Thus hath the Lord said, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness as I went to cause Israel to find rest.
3The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an eternal love: therefore, I have put up with thee with mercy.
4Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tambourines and shalt go forth in the chorus of dancers.
5Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant and shall eat them as common things.
6For there shall be a day in which the watchmen upon the Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up into Zion unto the Lord our God.
7For thus hath the Lord said; Rejoice in Jacob with joy, and give shouts of joy at the head of the Gentiles; cause this to be heard, give praise, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8Behold, I turn them from the land of the north wind and gather them from the coasts of the earth; there shall be blind and lame among them, and women with child and those that travail with child together; a great company shall return there.
9They shall come with weeping, but with mercies I will cause them to return; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, in which they shall not stumble; for I shall be a father to Israel, and Ephraim shall be my firstborn.
10¶ Hear the word of the Lord, O ye Gentiles, and cause it to be known in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.
11For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12Therefore they shall come and do praises in the height of Zion and shall run unto the goodness of the Lord, unto the bread, and unto the wine, and unto the oil, and unto the gain of the flock and of the herd and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13Then shall the virgin 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.
14And I will satiate the soul of the priest with fatness, and my people shall be filled with my goodness, said the Lord.
15Thus hath the Lord said; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her sons, she refused to be comforted regarding her sons, because they perished.
16Thus hath the Lord said; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17There is also hope for thine end, saith the Lord, and the sons shall come again to their own border.
18¶ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast afflicted me, and I was chastised as an indomitable bullock: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.
19Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.
20Peradventure is Ephraim a precious son unto me? Peradventure is he unto me a delightful child? With all this since I spoke of him, I have remembered him constantly. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; in tenderness I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.
21Establish signs, make thee high markers; consider the highway with great care, even the way which thou didst come; return, O virgin of Israel, return unto these thy cities.
22How long wilt thou wander, O thou backsliding daughter? for the Lord will bring forth a new thing upon the earth, A woman shall compass the man.
23Thus hath the Lord of the hosts the God of Israel said; Even yet shall they speak this word in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof when I shall turn their captivity: The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness.
24And Judah shall dwell in her, and also in all her cities, husbandmen, and those that go forth with flocks.
25For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have filled every sorrowful soul.
26Upon this I awoke, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27¶ Behold, the days come, said the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.
28And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up and to break down and to throw down and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build and to plant, said the Lord.
29In those days they shall no longer say, The fathers have eaten the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30But each one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31Behold, the days come, said the Lord, in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Jacob and with the house of Judah:
32not 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 invalidated my covenant although I was a husband unto them, said the Lord;
33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the Lord, I will give my law in their souls and write it in their hearts and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34And they shall no longer teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, said the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35¶ Thus hath the Lord said, who gives the sun for light by day, and the laws of the moon and of the stars for light by night, who divides the sea and the waves thereof roar; The Lord of the hosts is his name;
36If these laws depart from before me, said the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37Thus hath the Lord said: If the heavens 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, said the Lord.
38Behold, the days come, said the Lord, and the city shall be built unto the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39And the measuring line shall extend before him upon the hill Gareb and shall compass about to Goath.
40And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes with the burnt fat, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International