Jeremiah 31
31
1At that time, declares the LORD,
I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they will be my people.
2The LORD proclaims:
The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness.
As Israel searched for a place of rest,
3the LORD appeared to them#31.3 Or to me from a distance:#31.3 Or a long time ago
I have loved you with a love that lasts forever.
And so with unfailing love,
I have drawn you to myself.#31.3 Heb lacks myself.
4Again, I will build you up,
and you will be rebuilt, virgin Israel.
Again, you will play your tambourines
and dance with joy.
5Again, you will plant vineyards
on the hills of Samaria;
farmers will plant and then enjoy the harvests.
6The time will come when
the watchmen shout from
the highlands of Ephraim:
“Get ready! We’re going up to Zion
to the LORD our God!”
7The LORD proclaims:
Sing joyfully for the people of Jacob;
shout for the leading nation.
Raise your voices with praise and call out:
“The LORD has saved his people,#31.7 LXX; MT Save your people, LORD
the remaining few in Israel!”
8I’m going to bring them back from the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the disabled,
expectant mothers and those in labor;
a great throng will return here.
9With tears of joy they will come;
while they pray, I will bring them back.
I will lead them by quiet streams
and on smooth paths so they don’t stumble.
I will be Israel’s father,
Ephraim will be my oldest child.
10Listen to the LORD’s word, you nations,
and announce it to the distant islands:
The one who scattered Israel will gather them
and keep them safe, as a shepherd his flock.
11The LORD will rescue the people of Jacob
and deliver them from the power of those stronger than they are.
12They will come shouting for joy on the hills of Zion,
jubilant over the LORD’s gifts:
grain, wine, oil, flocks, and herds.
Their lives will be like a lush garden;
they will grieve no more.
13Then the young women will dance for joy;
the young and old men will join in.
I will turn their mourning into laughter
and their sadness into joy;
I will comfort them.
14I will lavish the priests with abundance
and shower my people with my gifts,
declares the LORD.
15The LORD proclaims:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and wailing.
It’s Rachel crying for her children;
she refuses to be consoled,
because her children are no more.
16The LORD proclaims:
Keep your voice from crying
and your eyes from weeping,
because your endurance will be rewarded,
declares the LORD.
They will return from the land of their enemy!
17There’s hope for your future,
declares the LORD.
Your children will return home!
18I hear, yes, I hear Ephraim lamenting:
“You disciplined me,
and I learned my lesson,
even though I was as stubborn as a mule.
Bring me back, let me return,
because you are the LORD my God.
19After I turned away from you,
I regretted it;
I realized what I had done,
and I have hit myself#31.19 Or struck my thigh—
I was humiliated and disgraced,
and I have carried this disgrace
since I was young.”
20Isn’t Ephraim my much-loved child?
Don’t I utterly adore him?
Even when I scold him,
I still hold him dear.
I yearn for him and love him deeply,
declares the LORD.
21Set up markers,
put up signs;
think about the road you have traveled,
the path you have taken.
Return, virgin Israel;
return to these towns of yours.
22How long will you hem and haw,
my rebellious daughter?
The LORD has created something new on earth:
Virgin Israel will once again embrace her God!#31.22 Or a woman surrounds a man
23The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: When I bring my people#31.23 Or them back from captivity, they will once again utter these words in the land and towns of Judah:
The LORD bless you,
righteous dwelling place,
holy mountain.
24Those who live in Judah and its towns will dwell together with farmers and shepherds. 25I will strengthen the weary and renew those who are weak.
26Then I woke up and looked around. What a pleasant sleep I had!
27The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will plant seeds in Israel and Judah, and both people and animals will spring up. 28Just as I watched over them to dig up and pull down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and plant, declares the LORD. 29In those days, people will no longer say:
Sour grapes eaten by parents
leave a bitter taste in the mouths of their children.
30Because everyone will die for their own sins:
whoever eats sour grapes
will have a bitter taste in their own mouths.
31The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the LORD!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.
35The LORD proclaims:
The one who established the sun to light up the day
and ordered#31.35 Or orders of the moon and stars to light up the night,
who stirs up the sea into crashing waves,
whose name is the LORD of heavenly forces:
36If the created order should vanish from my sight,
declares the LORD,
only then would Israel’s descendants ever stop being a nation
before me.
37The LORD proclaims:
If the heavens above could be measured
and the foundation of the earth below could be fathomed,
only then would I reject Israel’s descendants
for what they have done,
declares the LORD.
38The time is coming, declares the LORD, when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39Its boundaries will extend to the Gareb Hill and around to Goah. 40The entire valley defiled by corpses and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley and the Horse Gate on the east, all this will be set apart for the LORD. And the city will never again be dug up or overthrown.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 31: CEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 31
31
God’s Relationship with His People
1“At that time” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “I will be the God of all the families of Israel,#Jr 30:22 and they will be my people.”
2This is what the Lord says:
The people who survived the sword
found favor in the wilderness.#Ex 33:12–17
When Israel went to find rest,#Jos 23:1; 2Sm 7:11; 1Kg 8:56; 1Ch 23:25
3the Lord appeared to him#31:3 LXX; MT reads me from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;#Is 54:8
therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.#Ps 36:10; 109:12
4Again I will build you so that you will be rebuilt,
Virgin Israel.#Jr 18:13; 31:21; Am 5:2
You will take up your tambourines again#Ex 15:20; Jdg 11:34; 1Sm 18:6
and go out in joyful dancing.
5You will plant vineyards again#Am 5:11
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters will plant and will enjoy the fruit.#Lv 19:23,25; Dt 20:6; 28:30
6For there will be a day when watchmen will call out
in the hill country of Ephraim,
“Come, let’s go up to Zion,#Is 2:3
to the Lord our God!”
God’s People Brought Home
7For this is what the Lord says:
Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations!
Proclaim, praise, and say,
“Lord, save your people,#Ps 28:9; Hab 3:13; Zch 8:7
the remnant of Israel!” #Is 10:20; Jr 6:9; Ezk 11:13; Mc 2:12; Zph 3:13
8Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land.
I will gather them from remote regions of the earth#Neh 1:9; Is 43:6; Jr 32:37; Ezk 34:13; 37:21; 39:27; Zch 10:8,10 —
the blind and the lame will be with them,#Lv 21:18; Mt 11:5; Lk 14:13
along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth.
They will return here as a great assembly!#Ezk 38:15
9They will come weeping,
but I will bring them back with consolation.#31:9 LXX; MT reads supplications#Jb 15:11
I will lead them to wadis filled with water,
by a smooth way where they will not stumble,#Pr 4:12; Is 63:13; Ezk 36:15
for I am Israel’s Father,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.#Ex 4:22–23; Dt 32:19; Is 63:16; 64:8; Hs 11:1; Mal 2:10; Jn 8:41
10Nations, hear the word of the Lord,
and tell it among the far off coasts and islands!#Is 40:15; Jr 25:22; 47:4
Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him.#Dt 30:3; Is 11:12; Ezk 11:17; 20:34,41; 28:25; Mc 4:6; Zph 3:19
He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,
11for the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and redeemed him from the power of one stronger than he.”#Is 41:14; 43:1; 44:23; 48:20; 60:16
12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;#Ps 71:23; 92:4; Is 49:13; Zch 2:10
they will be radiant with joy#Ps 34:5; Is 60:5
because of the Lord’s goodness,
because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil,#Nm 18:12; Dt 7:13; Hg 1:11
and because of the young of the flocks and herds.
Their life will be like an irrigated garden,
and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.
13Then the young women will rejoice with dancing,
while young and old men rejoice together.
I will turn their mourning into joy,#Ps 105:43; Is 35:10; 51:3,11; Lm 5:15
give them consolation,
and bring happiness out of grief.
14I will refresh the priests with an abundance,#31:14 Lit fatness#Dt 31:20; Ps 36:8; Is 30:23
and my people will be satisfied with my goodness.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Lament Turned to Joy
15This is what the Lord says:
A voice was heard in Ramah,#Jos 18:25; Jdg 4:5; 1Sm 1:19; 19:18; Jr 40:1
a lament with bitter weeping —
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children
because they are no more.#Mt 2:18
16This is what the Lord says:
Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
and your children will return from the enemy’s land.
17There is hope for your future#Jr 5:31; 23:20; 29:11 —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
and your children will return to their own territory.
18I have surely heard Ephraim moaning,
“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined
like an untrained calf.#Hs 4:16; 10:11
Take me back, so that I can return,
for you, Lord, are my God.#Ps 40:5; Jr 3:22
19After my return, I felt regret;
After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.#Ezk 21:12
I was ashamed and humiliated#Ps 35:4; Ezr 9:6; Is 41:11; Jr 8:12; 14:3; 22:22; Ezk 36:32
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”
20Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me,
a delightful child?#Is 5:7; Hs 11:1
Whenever I speak against him,
I certainly still think about him.
Therefore, my inner being yearns for him;
I will truly have compassion on him.#Jr 12:15; 30:18; 33:26; 42:12; Hs 11:4,8–9
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Repentance and Restoration
21Set up road markers#2Kg 23:17; Ezk 39:15 for yourself;
establish signposts!
Keep the highway in mind,
the way you have traveled.
Return, Virgin Israel!
Return to these cities of yours.
22How long will you turn here and there,
faithless daughter?#Jr 3:14,22; 49:4
For the Lord creates something new in the land#31:22 Or new on earth —
a female#31:22 Or woman will shelter#31:22 Or female surrounds, or female courts; Hb obscure a man.
23This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes,#31:23 Or I end their captivity they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the Lord bless you, righteous settlement,#Jb 8:6; Jr 50:7 holy mountain.’#Ps 2:6; 3:4; 48:1; 99:9 24Judah and all its cities will live in it together — also farmers and those who move#31:24 Tg, Vg, Aq, Sym; MT reads and they will move with the flocks — 25for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”#Ps 107:9; Is 55:1; Jn 4:14; 6:35; 7:35; Rv 21:6; 22:17
26At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
27“Look, the days are coming” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “when I will sow the house of Israel#Ezk 36:9,11; Hs 2:23 and the house of Judah with the seed of people and the seed of animals. 28Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster,#Jr 21:10; 39:16; 44:27; Am 9:4 so will I watch over them to build and to plant them”#Jr 1:10; 18:7–10; 44:27 — this is the Lord’s declaration. 29“In those days, it will never again be said,
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’#Ezk 18:2
30Rather, each will die for his own iniquity.#Dt 24:6; Ezk 18:20 Anyone who eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge.
The New Covenant
31“Look, the days are coming”#Heb 8:8–12; 10:16–17 — this is the Lord’s declaration — “when I will make a new covenant#Ezk 37:26; Hs 2:18; Lk 22:20; 1Co 11:25; 2Co 3:6; Heb 9:15; 12:24 with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt — my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”#31:32 Or husband#Is 54:4; 62:4; Mal 2:11 — the Lord’s declaration. 33“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” — the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’#Jdg 2:10; 1Sm 3:7; Hs 2:20 for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”#Est 1:20; Jr 6:13; 8:10; 42:1,8; 44:12 — this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity#Nm 14:19; Ps 103:3; Jr 36:3 and never again remember their sin.
35“This is what the Lord says:
The one who gives the sun for light by day,
the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar#Ps 46:3; Is 51:15; Jr 5:22 —
the Lord of Armies is his name:
36If this fixed order departs from before me —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
only then will Israel’s descendants cease
to be a nation before me forever.#Jr 33:18; 35:19
37“This is what the Lord says:
Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below explored,
will I reject all of Israel’s descendants
because of all they have done —
this is the Lord’s declaration.
38“Look, the days are coming” — the Lord’s declaration — “when the city#31:38 = Jerusalem from the Tower of Hananel#Neh 3:1; 12:39 to the Corner Gate#2Kg 14:13; 2Ch 26:9; Zch 14:10 will be rebuilt for the Lord. 39A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb#Zch 2:1 and then turn toward Goah. 40The whole valley — the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley#2Kg 23:4 to the corner of the Horse Gate#Neh 3:28 to the east — will be holy to the Lord. It will never be uprooted or demolished again.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers