Jeremiah 31
31
The New Israel
1This is what the Lord said, “At that time I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel. And they will be my people.”
2This is what the Lord says:
“The people who escaped the enemy’s sword will find comfort in the desert.
Israel will go there looking for rest.”
3From far away, the Lord
will appear to his people.
The Lord says, “I love you people with a love that continues forever.
That is why I have continued showing you kindness.
4Israel, my bride, I will rebuild you.
You will be a country again.
You will pick up your tambourines again.
You will dance with all the other people who are having fun.
5You farmers of Israel will plant vineyards again.
You will plant the vineyards on the hills around the city of Samaria.
The farmers will enjoy the fruit from the vineyards.
6There will be a time when watchmen#31:6 watchmen This usually means a guard who stands on the city walls watching for people coming to the city. Here, it probably means the prophets. shout this message:
‘Come, let’s go up to Zion to worship the Lord our God!’
Even the watchmen in the hill country of Ephraim#31:6 hill country of Ephraim This was the central part of the land that had been the northern kingdom of Israel. will shout that message.”
7This is what the Lord says:
“Be happy and sing for Jacob!
Shout for Israel, the greatest of the nations!
Sing your praises and shout:
‘Lord, save your people!#31:7 Lord, save your people Or “Lord has saved his people!” This is often a shout of victory.
Save those who are left alive from the nation of Israel.’
8Remember, I will bring Israel
from that country in the north.
I will gather the people of Israel
from the faraway places on earth.
Some of the people will be blind and crippled.
Some of the women will be pregnant and ready to give birth.
But many people will come back.
9They will come back crying,
but I will lead them and comfort them.
I will lead them by streams of water.
I will lead them on an easy road,
where they will not stumble.
I will lead them in that way because I am Israel’s father.
And Ephraim is my firstborn son.
10“Nations, listen to this message from the Lord!
Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea:
‘God scattered the people of Israel,
but he will bring them back together.
And he will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
11The Lord will bring Jacob back.
He will save his people from those who are stronger.
12The people of Israel will come to the top of Zion,
and they will shout with joy.
Their faces will shine with happiness about the good things the Lord gives them.
He will give them grain, new wine, olive oil, young sheep and cattle.
They will be like a garden that has plenty of water.
And the people of Israel will not be troubled anymore.
13Then the young women of Israel will be happy and dance.
And the men, young and old, will join in the dancing.
I will change their sadness into happiness.
I will comfort my people, making them happy instead of sad.
14I will give the priests plenty of food.
And my people will be filled and satisfied with the good things I give them.”
This message is from the Lord.
15This is what the Lord says:
“A sound is heard in Ramah—
bitter crying and great sadness.
Rachel#31:15 Rachel Jacob’s wife. Here, this means all the women who are crying for their husbands and children who have died in the war with Babylon. cries for her children,
and she refuses to be comforted,
because her children are gone.”
16But the Lord says, “Stop crying.
Don’t fill your eyes with tears.
You will be rewarded for your work.”
This message is from the Lord.
“The people of Israel will come back from their enemy’s land.
17Israel, there is hope for you.”
This message is from the Lord.
“Your children will come back to their own land.
18I have heard Ephraim crying:
‘Lord, you punished me, and I learned my lesson.
I was like a calf that was never trained.
Please stop punishing me,
and I will come back to you.
You really are the Lord my God.
19I wandered away from you.
But I finally realized how wrong I was.
So I changed my heart and life.
I am ashamed and embarrassed
about the foolish things I did when I was young.’”
20The Lord says,
“You know that Ephraim is my dear son.
I love that child.
Yes, I often criticized Ephraim,
but I still think about him.
I love him very much,
and I really do want to comfort him.
21“People of Israel, repair the road signs.
Put up signs that show the way home.
Watch the road.
Remember the road you are leaving on.
Israel, my bride, come home.
Come back to your towns.
22Unfaithful daughter,
how long will you wander around?
“The Lord has created something new in the land:
A woman surrounding a man.#31:22 A woman surrounding a man The Hebrew text here is hard to understand. It might be part of some saying that was familiar to the people in Jeremiah’s time.”
23This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “I will again do good things for the people of Judah. I will bring back those who were taken away as prisoners. At that time the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘May the Lord bless you, good home and holy mountain#31:23 good home and holy mountain This was a blessing for the Temple and for Mount Zion, the mountain the Temple was built on.!’
24“People in all the towns of Judah will live together in peace. Farmers and those who move around with their flocks will live peacefully together in Judah. 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 was very pleasant.
27“The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will help the family 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 gave many troubles to them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and make them strong.” This message is from the Lord.
29“People will not use this saying anymore:
‘The parents ate the sour grapes,
but the children got the sour taste.’#31:29 The parents … sour taste This means the children were suffering for things their parents did.
30No, people will die for their own sins. Those who eat sour grapes will get the sour taste.”
The New Agreement
31This is what the Lord said, “The time is coming when I will make a new agreement with the family of Israel and with the family of Judah. 32It will not be like the agreement I made with their ancestors. I made that agreement when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. I was their master, but they broke that agreement.” This message is from the Lord.
33“In the future I will make this agreement with the people of Israel.” This message is from 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 not have to teach their neighbors and relatives to know the Lord, because all people, from the least important to the most important, will know me.” This message is from the Lord. “I will forgive them for the evil things they did. I will not remember their sins.”
The Lord Will Never Leave Israel
35He makes the sun shine in the day,
and he makes the moon and the stars shine at night.
He stirs up the sea so that its waves crash on the shore.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
This is what the Lord says:
36“The descendants of Israel will never stop being a nation.
That would happen only if I lost control of the sun, moon, stars, and sea.”
37The Lord says, “I will never reject the descendants of Israel.
That would happen only if people could measure the sky above,
and learn all the secrets of the earth below.
Only then would I reject them for the bad things they have done.”
This message is from the Lord.
The New Jerusalem
38This message is from the Lord, “The days are coming when the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt for the Lord. The whole city will be rebuilt—from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line#31:39 measuring line A rope or chain for measuring property lines. will stretch from the Corner Gate straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to the place named Goah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown and all the terraces down to the bottom of Kidron Valley all the way to the corner of Horse Gate will be holy to the Lord. The city of Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.”
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 31: ERV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society