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.
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 31
31
1At that time, saith the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel: and they shall be my people.
2Thus saith the Lord: The people that were left and escaped from the sword found grace in the desert: Israel shall go to his rest.
3The Lord hath appeared from afar to me. Yea, I have loved thee with everlasting love: therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee.
4And I will build thee again, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel. Thou shalt again be adorned with thy timbrels and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5Thou shalt yet plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and they shall not gather the vintage before the time.
6For there shall be a day, in which the watchmen on mount Ephraim shall cry: Arise, and let us go up to Sion to the Lord our God.
7For thus saith the Lord: Rejoice ye in the joy of Jacob and neigh before the head of the Gentiles. Shout ye and sing, and say: Save, O Lord, thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8Behold, I will bring them from the north country and will gather them from the ends of the earth: and among them shall be the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she that is bringing forth, together, a great company of them returning hither.
9They shall come with weeping: and I will bring them back in mercy. And I will bring them through the torrents of waters in a right way: and they shall not stumble in it. For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the islands that are afar off, and say: He that scattered Israel will gather him: and he will keep him as the shepherd doth his flock.
11For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and delivered him out of the hand of one that was mightier than he.
12And they shall come and shall give praise in mount Sion: and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord, for the corn and wine and oil and the increase of cattle and herds. And their soul shall be as a watered garden: and they shall be hungry no more.
13Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, the young men and old men together: and I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them joyful after their sorrow.
14And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness: and my people shall be filled with my good things, saith the Lord.
15Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not.
16Thus saith the Lord: Let thy voice cease from weeping and thy eyes from tears, for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord: and they shall return out of the land of the enemy.
17And here is hope for thy last end, saith the Lord: and the children shall return to their own borders.
18Hearing, I heard Ephraim when he went into captivity. Thou hast chastised me: and I was instructed, as a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Convert me, and I shall be converted: for thou art the Lord my God.
19For after thou didst convert me, I did penance: and after thou didst show unto me, I struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed, because I have borne the reproach of my youth.
20Surely Ephraim is an honourable son to me, surely he is a tender child: for since I spoke of him, I will still remember him. Therefore are my bowels troubled for him: pitying, I will pity him, saith the Lord.
21Set thee up a watch-tower: make to thee bitterness direct thy heart into the right way wherein thou hast walked. Return, O virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities.
22How long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter? For the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN.
23Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As yet shall they say this word in the land of Juda and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring back their captivity: The Lord bless thee, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain.
24And Juda and all his cities shall dwell therein together: the husbandmen and they that drive the flocks.
25For I have inebriated the weary soul: and I have filled every hungry soul.
26Upon this I was as it were awaked out of a sleep, and I saw, and my sleep was sweet to me.
27Behold, the days come, saith the Lord: and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of men, and with the seed of beasts.
28And as I have watched over them, to pluck up and to throw down and to scatter and destroy and afflict: so will I watch over them, to build up and to plant them, saith the Lord.
29In those days they shall say no more: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.
30But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that shall eat the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31Behold, the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Juda:
32Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt: the covenant which they made void, and I had dominion over them, saith the Lord.
33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord. For all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.
35Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for the light of the day, the order of the moon and of the stars for the light of the night: who stirreth up the sea, and the waves thereof roar. The Lord of hosts is his name.
36If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever.
37Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I also will cast away all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.
38Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hanameel even to the gate of the corner.
39And the measuring line shall go out farther in his sight upon the hill Gareb: and it shall compass Goatha,
40And the whole valley of dead bodies and of ashes, and all the country of death, even to the torrent Cedron and the corner of the horse-gate towards the east, the Holy of the Lord. It shall not be plucked up and it shall not be destroyed any more for ever.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.