Jeremiah 31
31
Good News of the Return
1At that time—oracle of the Lord—
I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they shall be my people.#Jer 30:22.
2#Jeremiah describes the exiles of the Northern Kingdom on their way home from the nations where the Assyrians had resettled them (722/721 B.C.). The favor they discover in the wilderness is the appearance of the Lord (v. 3) coming to guide them to Jerusalem. Implicit in these verses is the presentation of the people’s return from captivity as a second exodus, a unifying theme in Second Isaiah (chaps. 40–55). Thus says the Lord:
The people who escaped the sword
find favor in the wilderness.
As Israel comes forward to receive rest,
3from afar the Lord appears:
With age-old love I have loved you;
so I have kept my mercy toward you.#Dt 7:8; 10:15; Is 43:4; 63:9; Hos 11:1, 4.
4Again I will build you, and you shall stay built,
virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines,
you shall go forth dancing with merrymakers.
5You shall again plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
those who plant them shall enjoy their fruits.#Dt 28:30; Is 65:21; Am 9:14.
6Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
call out on Mount Ephraim:
“Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord, our God.”#Is 2:3; 27:13; Mi 4:2.
The Road of Return
7For thus says the Lord:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The Lord has saved his people,
the remnant of Israel.#Is 12:6.
8Look! I will bring them back
from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the earth,
the blind and the lame in their midst,
Pregnant women, together with those in labor—
an immense throng—they shall return.#Jer 3:18; 23:3, 8; Is 35:5–6.
9With weeping they shall come,
but with compassion I will guide them;
I will lead them to streams of water,
on a level road, without stumbling.
For I am a father to Israel,
Ephraim is my firstborn.#Ex 4:22.
10Hear the word of the Lord, you nations,
proclaim it on distant coasts, and say:
The One who scattered Israel, now gathers them;
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
11The Lord shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from a hand too strong for him.#Is 44:23; 48:20.
12Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
flocks of sheep and cattle;
They themselves shall be like watered gardens,
never again neglected.#Is 58:11.
13Then young women shall make merry and dance,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will show them compassion and have them rejoice after their sorrows.
14I will lavish choice portions on the priests,
and my people shall be filled with my blessings—
oracle of the Lord.
End of Rachel’s Mourning
15Thus says the Lord:
In Ramah#Ramah: a village about five miles north of Jerusalem, where one tradition locates Rachel’s tomb (1 Sm 10:2). The wife of Jacob/Israel, Rachel is the matriarchal ancestor of Ephraim, chief among the northern tribes. She personified Israel as a mother whose grief for her lost children is especially poignant because she had to wait a long time to bear them. Mt 2:18 applies this verse to Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. is heard the sound of sobbing,
bitter weeping!
Rachel mourns for her children,
she refuses to be consoled
for her children—they are no more!#Mt 2:18.
16Thus says the Lord:
Cease your cries of weeping,
hold back your tears!
There is compensation for your labor—
oracle of the Lord—
they shall return from the enemy’s land.
17There is hope for your future—oracle of the Lord—
your children shall return to their own territory.#Jer 29:10–14.
18Indeed, I heard Ephraim rocking in grief:
You chastised me, and I was chastised;
I was like an untamed calf.
Bring me back, let me come back,
for you are the Lord, my God.#Lv 26:40–42.
19For after I turned away, I repented;
after I came to myself, I struck my thigh;#Struck my thigh: a gesture signifying grief and dread (cf. Ez 21:17).
I was ashamed, even humiliated,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.#Dt 30:1–3.
20Is Ephraim not my favored son,
the child in whom I delight?
Even though I threaten him,
I must still remember him!
My heart stirs for him,
I must show him compassion!—oracle of the Lord.#Hos 11:8.
Summons to Return Home
21Set up road markers,
put up signposts;
Turn your attention to the highway,
the road you walked.
Turn back, virgin Israel,
turn back to these your cities.
22How long will you continue to hesitate,
rebellious daughter?
The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth:
woman encompasses man.#No satisfactory explanation has been given for this text. Jerome, for example, saw the image as a reference to the infant Jesus enclosed in Mary’s womb. Since Jeremiah often uses marital imagery in his description of a restored Israel, the phrase may refer to a wedding custom, perhaps women circling the groom in a dance. It may also be a metaphor describing the security of a new Israel, a security so complete that it defies the imagination and must be expressed as hyperbolic role reversal: any danger will be so insignificant that women can protect their men.
23Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: When I restore their fortunes in the land of Judah and in its cities, they shall again use this greeting: “May the Lord bless you, Tent of Justice, Holy Mountain!”#Jer 30:3; Ps 122:8. 24Judah and all its cities, the farmers and those who lead the flock shall dwell there together. 25For I will slake the thirst of the faint; the appetite of all the weary I will satisfy. 26At this I awoke and opened my eyes; my sleep was satisfying.#I awoke…satisfying: an intrusive comment.
27See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of human beings and the seed of animals. 28As I once watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, to destroy, and to harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 1:10; 18:7. 29In those days they shall no longer say,
“The parents ate unripe grapes,#Dt 24:16; Ez 18:2.
and the children’s teeth are set on edge,”#“The parents…on edge”: Jeremiah’s opponents use this proverb to complain that they are being punished for sins of their ancestors. Jeremiah, however, insists that the Lord knows the depth of their wickedness and holds them accountable for their actions.
30but all shall die because of their own iniquity: the teeth of anyone who eats unripe grapes shall be set on edge.
The New Covenant.#The new covenant is an occasional prophetic theme, beginning with Hosea. According to Jeremiah, (a) it lasts forever; (b) its law (torah) is written in human hearts; (c) it gives everyone true knowledge of God, making additional instruction (torah) unnecessary. The Dead Sea Scroll community claimed they were partners in a “new covenant.” The New Testament presents the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as inaugurating a new covenant open to anyone who professes faith in Jesus the Christ. Cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; Heb 8:8–12. Know the Lord: cf. note on 22:15–16. 31See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.#Jer 32:40; Heb 9:15. 32It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, though I was their master—oracle of the Lord.#Ex 24:7–8; Dt 5:2. 33But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days—oracle of the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.#Jer 32:40; Ez 37:26; Heb 10:16. 34They will no longer teach their friends and relatives, “Know the Lord!” Everyone, from least to greatest, shall know me—oracle of the Lord—for I will forgive their iniquity and no longer remember their sin.#Is 54:13.
Certainty of God’s Promise
35Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun to light the day,
moon and stars to light the night;
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar,
whose name is Lord of hosts:#Gn 1:14–18.
36If ever this fixed order gives way
before me—oracle of the Lord—
Then would the offspring of Israel cease
as a people before me forever.#Jer 33:20–21.
37Thus says the Lord:
If the heavens on high could be measured,
or the foundations below the earth be explored,
Then would I reject all the offspring of Israel
because of all they have done—oracle of the Lord.
Jerusalem Rebuilt.#The landmarks in these verses outline the borders of Jerusalem during the time of Nehemiah: the Tower of Hananel (Neh 3:1; 12:39) in the northeast and the Corner Gate (2 Kgs 14:13) in the northwest; Goah in the southeast and Gareb Hill in the southwest; the Valley of Ben-hinnom (“the Valley of corpses and ashes”), which met the Wadi Kidron in the southeast, and the Horse Gate in the eastern wall at the southeast corner of the Temple area. 38See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when the city shall be rebuilt as the Lord’s,#Neh 12:38; Zec 14:10–11. from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39A measuring line shall be stretched from there straight to the hill Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley of corpses and ashes, all the terraced slopes toward the Wadi Kidron, as far as the corner of the Horse Gate at the east, shall be holy to the Lord. Never again shall the city be uprooted or demolished.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Jeremiah 31
31
1At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, I am for God to all families of Israel, And they — they are to Me for a people.
2Thus said Jehovah: Found grace in the wilderness Hath a people remaining from the sword Going to cause it to rest — Israel.
3From afar Jehovah hath appeared to me, With love age-during I have loved thee, Therefore I have drawn thee [with] kindness.
4Again do I build thee, And thou hast been built, O virgin of Israel, Again thou puttest on thy tabrets, And hast gone out in the chorus of the playful.
5Again thou dost plant vineyards In mountains of Samaria, Planters have planted, and made common.
6For there is a day, Cried have watchmen on mount Ephraim, ‘Rise, and we go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God;
7For thus said Jehovah: Sing, O ye to Jacob, [with] joy, And cry aloud at the head of the nations, Sound ye, praise ye, and say, Save, O Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8Lo, I am bringing them in from the north country, And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, Among them [are] blind and lame, Conceiving and travailing one — together, A great assembly — they turn back hither.
9With weeping they come in, And with supplications I bring them, I cause them to go unto streams of waters, In a right way — they stumble not in it, For I have been to Israel for a father, And Ephraim — My first-born [is] he.
10Hear a word of Jehovah, O nations, And declare ye among isles afar off, and say: He who is scattering Israel doth gather him, And hath kept him as a shepherd [doth] his flock,
11For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, And redeemed him from a hand stronger than he.
12And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed unto the goodness of Jehovah, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul hath been as a watered garden, And they add not to grieve any more.
13Then rejoice doth a virgin in a chorus, Both young men and old men — together, And I have turned their mourning to joy, And have comforted them, And gladdened them above their sorrow,
14And satisfied the soul of the priests [with] fatness, And My people with My goodness are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.
15Thus said Jehovah, A voice in Ramah is heard, wailing, weeping most bitter, Rachel is weeping for her sons, She hath refused to be comforted for her sons, because they are not.
16Thus said Jehovah: Withhold thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, For there is a reward for thy work, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they have turned back from the land of the enemy.
17And there is hope for thy latter end, An affirmation of Jehovah, And the sons have turned back [to] their border.
18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, ‘Thou hast chastised me, And I am chastised, as a heifer not taught, Turn me back, and I turn back, For thou [art] Jehovah my God.
19For after my turning back I repented, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth.
20A precious son is Ephraim to Me? A child of delights? For since My speaking against him, I do thoroughly remember him still, Therefore have My bowels been moved for him, I do greatly love him, An affirmation of Jehovah.
21Set up for thee signs, make for thee heaps, Set thy heart to the highway, the way thou wentest, Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back unto these thy cities.
22Till when dost thou withdraw thyself, O backsliding daughter? For Jehovah hath prepared a new thing in the land, Woman doth compass man.
23Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Still they say this word in the land of Judah, And in its cities, In My turning back [to] their captivity, Jehovah doth bless thee, habitation of righteousness, Mountain of holiness.
24And dwelt in Judah have husbandmen, and in all its cities together, And they have journeyed in order.
25For I have satiated the weary soul, And every grieved soul I have filled.’
26On this I have awaked, and I behold, and my sleep hath been sweet to me.
27Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sown the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, With seed of man, and seed of beast.
28And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.
29In those days they do not say any more: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted.
30But — each for his own iniquity doth die, Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, Blunted are his teeth.
31Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have made with the house of Israel And with the house of Judah a new covenant,
32Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day of My laying hold on their hand, To bring them out of the land of Egypt, In that they made void My covenant, And I ruled over them — an affirmation of Jehovah.
33For this [is] the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people.
34And they do not teach any more Each his neighbour, and each his brother, Saying, Know ye Jehovah, For they all know Me, from their least unto their greatest, An affirmation of Jehovah; For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I make mention no more.
35Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving the sun for a light by day, The statutes of moon and stars for a light by night, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name:
36If these statutes depart from before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, Even the seed of Israel doth cease From being a nation before Me all the days.
37Thus said Jehovah: If the heavens above be measured, And the foundations of earth below searched, Even I kick against all the seed of Israel, For all that they have done, An affirmation of Jehovah.
38Lo, days [are coming], an affirmation of Jehovah, And the city hath been built to Jehovah, From the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.
39And gone out again hath the measuring line Over-against it, unto the height of Gareb, And it hath compassed to Goah.
40And all the valley of the carcases and of the ashes, And all the fields unto the brook Kidron, Unto the corner of the horse-gate eastward, [Are] holy to Jehovah, it is not plucked up, Nor is it thrown down any more to the age!
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