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.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 31: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Military Bible Association