Jeremiah 31
31
Israel's Return Home
1The LORD says, “The time is coming when I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they will be my people. 2In the desert I showed mercy to those people who had escaped death. When the people of Israel longed for rest, 3I appeared to them#31.3 One ancient translation them; Hebrew me. from far away. People of Israel, I have always loved you, so I continue to show you my constant love. 4Once again I will rebuild you. Once again you will take up your tambourines and dance joyfully. 5Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and those who plant them will eat what the vineyards produce. 6Yes, the time is coming when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Let's go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’ ”
7The LORD says,
“Sing with joy for Israel,
the greatest of the nations.
Sing your song of praise,
‘The LORD has saved his#31.7 Some ancient translations The LORD… his; Hebrew LORD, save your. people;
he has rescued all who are left.’
8I will bring them from the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
The blind and the lame will come with them,
pregnant women and those about to give birth.
They will come back a great nation.
9My people will return weeping,
praying as I lead them back.
I will guide them to streams of water,
on a smooth road where they will not stumble.
I am like a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my eldest son.”
10The LORD says,
“Nations, listen to me,
and proclaim my words on the far-off shores.
I scattered my people, but I will gather them
and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock.
11I have set Israel's people free
and have saved them from a mighty nation.
12They will come and sing for joy on Mount Zion
and be delighted with my gifts —
gifts of corn and wine and olive oil,
gifts of sheep and cattle.
They will be like a well-watered garden;
they will have everything they need.
13Then the young women will dance and be happy,
and men, young and old, will rejoice.
I will comfort them and turn their mourning into joy,
their sorrow into gladness.
14I will fill the priests with the richest food
and satisfy all the needs of my people.
I, the LORD, have spoken.”
The LORD's Mercy on Israel
15 #
Gen 35.16–19; Mt 2.18 The LORD says,
“A sound is heard in Ramah,
the sound of bitter weeping.
Rachel is crying for her children;
they are gone,
and she refuses to be comforted.
16Stop your crying
and wipe away your tears.
All that you have done for your children
will not go unrewarded;
they will return from the enemy's land.
17There is hope for your future;
your children will come back home.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
18“I hear the people of Israel say in grief,
‘LORD, we were like an untamed animal,
but you taught us to obey.
Bring us back;
we are ready to return to you,
the LORD our God.
19We turned away from you,
but soon we wanted to return.
After you had punished us,
we hung our heads in grief.
We were ashamed and disgraced,
because we sinned when we were young.’
20“Israel, you are my dearest son,
the child I love best.
Whenever I mention your name,
I think#31.20 I mention… I think; or I threaten to punish, I still think. of you with love.
My heart goes out to you;
I will be merciful.
21Set up signs and mark the road;
find again the way by which you left.
Come back, people of Israel,
come home to the towns you left.
22How long will you hesitate, faithless people?
I have created something new and different,
as different as a woman protecting a man.”#31.22 as different… man; Hebrew unclear.
The Future Prosperity of God's People
23The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says, “When I restore the people to their land, they will once again say in the land of Judah and in its towns,
‘May the LORD bless the sacred hill#31.23 sacred hill: Mount Zion, the hill in Jerusalem which formed part of the Temple and palace area. of Jerusalem,
the holy place where he lives.’
24People will live in Judah and in all its towns, and there will be farmers, and shepherds with their flocks. 25I will refresh those who are weary and will satisfy with food everyone who is weak from hunger. 26So then, people will say, ‘I went to sleep and woke up refreshed.’
27“I, the LORD, say that the time is coming when I will fill the land of Israel and Judah with people and animals. 28And just as I took care to uproot, to pull down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to demolish them, so I will take care to plant them and to build them up. 29#Ezek 18.2When that time comes, people will no longer say,
‘The parents ate the sour grapes,
But the children got the sour taste.’
30Instead, all those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and they will all die because of their own sin.”
31 #
Mt 26.28; Mk 14.24; Lk 22.20; 1 Cor 11.25; 2 Cor 3.6 #
Heb 8.8–12
The LORD says, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33#Heb 10.16The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34#Heb 10.17None of them will have to teach his fellow-citizen to know the LORD, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
35The LORD provides the sun for light by day,
the moon and the stars to shine at night.
He stirs up the sea and makes it roar;
his name is the LORD Almighty.
36He promises that as long as the natural order lasts,
so long will Israel be a nation.
37If one day the sky could be measured
and the foundations of the earth explored,
only then would he reject the people of Israel
because of all they have done.
The LORD has spoken.
38“The time is coming,” says the LORD, “when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt as my city, from Hananel Tower west to the Corner Gate. 39And the boundary line will continue from there on the west to the hill of Gareb and then round to Goah. 40The entire valley, where the dead are buried and refuse is thrown, and all the fields above the brook of Kidron as far as the Horse Gate to the east, will be sacred to me. The city will never again be torn down or destroyed.”
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Jeremiah 31: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 31
31
Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy
1“At that time,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
2¶Thus says the Lord,
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness [of exile]—
Israel (the Northern Kingdom), when it went to find its rest.”
3The Lord appeared to me (#31:3 Also referred to as Samaria, Ephraim, Jacob, and Rachel in this chapter.Israel) from ages past, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you. [Deut 7:8]
4“Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O Virgin Israel!
You will again be adorned with your tambourines and #31:4 Small one-headed drums.timbrels
And go out to the dances of those who celebrate. [Is 37:22; Jer 18:13]
5“Again you will plant vineyards
On the mountains of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And enjoy the [abundant] fruit [in peace].
6“For there will be a day when the watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim cry out,
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ ”
7¶For thus says the Lord,
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout for the first and foremost of the nations [the chosen people, Israel];
Proclaim, give praise and say,
‘O Lord save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
8“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them [will be] the blind and the lame,
The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together;
A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].
9“They will come with weeping [in repentance and for joy],
And by [their] prayer [for the future] I will lead them;
I will make them walk by streams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will not stumble,
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim (Israel) is My firstborn.”
10¶Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations,
And declare it in the isles and coastlands far away,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
11For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And has redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12“They will come and sing aloud and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And will be radiant [with joy] over the goodness of the Lord—
For the grain, for the new wine, for the oil,
And for the young of the flock and the herd.
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they shall never sorrow or languish again.
13“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.
14“I will fully satisfy the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” says the Lord.
15¶Thus says the Lord,
“A #31:15 The mourning at Ramah is associated with the cry of the mothers of the boy babies and toddlers of Bethlehem who would be killed by Herod the Great during his attempt to destroy young Jesus (Matt 2:17, 18). Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, was the mother of Joseph (Gen 35:24). The tribes descended from Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were the most powerful in the Northern Kingdom.voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation (songs of mourning) and bitter weeping.
Rachel (Israel) is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are gone.” [Matt 2:18]
16Thus says the Lord,
“Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears,
For your work will be rewarded,” says the Lord;
“And your children will return from the enemy’s land.
17“There is [confident] hope for your future,” says the Lord;
“Your children will come back to their own country.
18“I have surely heard Ephraim (Israel) moaning and grieving,
‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like a bull unaccustomed to the yoke or an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
19‘After I turned away [from You], I repented;
After I was instructed, I struck my thigh [in remorse];
I was ashamed and even humiliated
Because I carried the disgrace of my youth [as a nation].’
20“Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a darling and beloved child?
For as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him.
Therefore My affection is renewed and My heart longs for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,” says the Lord.
21¶“Place for yourself road signs [toward Canaan],
Make for yourself guideposts;
Turn your thought and attention to the highway,
To the way by which you went [into exile].
Retrace your steps, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
22“How long will you hesitate [to return],
O you faithless and renegade daughter?
For the Lord has created a #31:22 This passage probably personifies Israel as an erring but deeply penitent wife, who will devote herself to winning back and being worthy of the love of her divine husband and Lord, who had rejected her.new thing in the land [of Israel]:
A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man.”
23Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once more they will speak these words in the land of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and in her cities when I restore their fortunes and release them from exile,
‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice and righteousness,
O holy mountain!’
24And [the people of] Judah and all its cities will live there together—the farmer and they who wander about with flocks. 25For I [fully] satisfy the weary soul, and I replenish every languishing and sorrowful person.” 26At this I (Jeremiah) awoke and looked, and my [trancelike] sleep was sweet [in the assurance it gave] to me.
A New Covenant
27“Behold (listen carefully), 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. 28It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good],” says the Lord.
29“In those days they will not say again,
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ [Ezek 18:2]
30But everyone will die [only] for his own wickedness; every man who eats sour grapes—his [own] teeth shall be set on edge.
31“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the #31:31 The kingdom was united under David and his successor, Solomon, but split after Solomon’s son, Rehoboam became king.house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and with the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom), [Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25] 32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. 33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 34And each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me [through personal experience], from the least of them to the greatest,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.” [Heb 8:8-12; 10:16, 17]
35¶Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and of the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea’s roaring billows or stills the waves when they roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
36“If this fixed order departs
From before Me,” says the Lord,
“Then the descendants of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
37Thus says the Lord,
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off and abandon all the descendants of Israel
For all that they have done,” says the Lord.
38“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the city [of Jerusalem] will be rebuilt for the Lord from the #31:38 Many times after the days of the Old Testament, Jerusalem was destroyed. Travelers in later centuries reported it to be an almost deserted city—its buildings were ruins filled with rubble, its inhabitants were few. Yet not only did God’s word declare that it would be rebuilt, but also drew a detailed word map of the outline the city would follow—from a well-known tower to the gate at a certain corner, then on over a particular hill, coming now outside the walls of the original city and taking in a large area marked by familiar landmarks. Eight recognizable details are given here, and Zechariah adds another (14:10). Also, the city’s expansion was to be toward the northwest. Twenty-five hundred years later, in 1935, the prophecy had been fulfilled, as if indeed with God’s “measuring line” (v 39). So unlikely seemed this prophecy’s fulfillment that some early commentators suggested that it should be interpreted spiritually.Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to #31:39 The exact location of Goah remains unknown.Goah. 40And the whole valley (Hinnom) of the dead bodies and [the hill] of the ashes [long dumped there from the temple sacrifices], and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It (the city) will not be uprooted or overthrown anymore to the end of the age.” [Zech 14:10, 11]
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