Jeremiah 31
31
1 “At that time,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“I will be the God of all the clans#Or “families” of Israel,
and they will be to me a people.”
2Thus says Yahweh:
“The people of the survivors of the sword found grace in the desert;#Or “wilderness”
Israel going to find their rest.”
3From afar Yahweh appeared to me, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Therefore#Literally “Unto thus” I have drawn you with loyal love.
4I will again build you,
and you will be built, O virgin Israel.
You will again adorn yourself with your tambourines,
and you will go forth in the dancing in a ring of the merrymakers.
5You will again plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.
The planters will plant, and they will enjoy it.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
6For there will be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Stand up, and let us go up to Zion, to Yahweh our God.’ ”
7For thus says Yahweh,
“Sing for joy for Jacob with gladness,
and shout out for the head of the nations.
Proclaim, praise, and say,
‘Save, O Yahweh, your people, the remnant of Israel.’
8Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth.
Among them the blind, and the lame,
those who are pregnant, and those who give birth,
together, a great assembly,
they will return here.
9With weeping they will come,
and with pleas for mercy I will bring them;
I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path.
They will not stumble in it,
for I have become to Israel a father,
and Ephraim, he is my firstborn.”
10Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,
and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say,
“The scatterer of Israel will gather him,
and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.
11For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
and he has redeemed him from the hand of the person stronger#Literally “strong” than he.
12And they will come,
and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion,
and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh,
over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil,
and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle.
And their life will become like a well-watered garden,
and they will never languish again.”
13“Then the young woman will rejoice in the dancing in a ring,
and the young men and the old men together.
And I will turn their mourning to jubilation,
and I will comfort them,
and I will gladden them from their sorrow.
14And I will saturate the appetite of the priests with fatness,
and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
15Thus says Yahweh,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation, the weeping of bitterness.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted because of her children,
for they are no more.”
16Thus says Yahweh:
“Restrain your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“and they will return from the land of the enemy.
17And there is hope for your future,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“and your children will return to their territory.
18Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves,
‘You disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like a calf that is not trained.
Bring me back and let me return,
for you are Yahweh my God.
19For after my turning back I repented,
and after coming to understand I struck my thigh.
I was ashamed and also humiliated,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20Is Ephraim my dear son,
or the child of my delight?
For as often as#Literally “from enough” I have earnestly spoken against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore#Literally “Unto thus” my bowels are turbulent for him,
surely I will have compassion on him,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
21“Set up for yourself road markers,
make for yourself signposts,
set your mind#Literally “heart” to the main road,
the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin of Israel,
return to these your cities.
22How long#Literally “Until when” will you waver, O unfaithful daughter?
For Yahweh has created a new thing on the earth,
a woman, she shelters a man.”
23Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “They will again say these words#Hebrew “word” in the land of Judah and in its towns at my restoring their fortunes,#Hebrew “fortune”
‘Yahweh bless you, O settlement of righteousness,
O hill of holiness.’
24And Judah and all of its towns together will live in it,
farmers and those who travel with the flocks.#Hebrew “flock”
25For I will saturate the thirst of the weary,
and every person who languishes I will replenish.”
26At this I awoke and looked,
and my sleep was pleasant to me.
The New Covenant
27“Look, the days are coming,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humankind, and with the seed of animals.#Hebrew “animal” 28And then#Literally “And it will happen” as I have watched over them to pull up, and to tear down, and to annihilate, and to destroy, and to do evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. 29“In those days they will say no longer, ‘Parents#Literally “Fathers” have eaten unripe fruit, and the teeth of the children are set on edge#Literally “have become blunt”.’ 30But#Literally “But if” each will die because of his iniquity, everyone#Literally “all of the humankind” who eats the unripe fruit, their teeth will be set on edge.#Literally “become blunt”
31Look, the days are coming,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and I will make#Literally “cut” a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made#Literally “cut” with their ancestors#Or “fathers” on the day of my grasping them#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. 33“But this is the covenant that I will make#Literally “cut” with the house of Israel after those days,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts#Hebrew “heart” I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. 34And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Know Yahweh,’ for all of them will know me, from their smallest#Literally “small” and up to their greatest,”#Literally “great” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember.”
35Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, the regulations of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar—Yahweh of hosts is his name. 36“If these rules would cease from before me,”#Literally “to the face of me” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “also the offspring of Israel would cease from being a nation before me#Literally “to the face of me” forever.”#Literally “all the days” 37Thus says Yahweh, “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, also I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all that they have done,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. 38“Look, days are coming,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39And the measuring line#Literally “the string of the measurement” will still go out immediately in front of it to the hill of Gareb, and it will turn to Goah. 40And the whole of the valley of the corpses, and the ashes, and all the cultivated fields up to the wadi of Kidron, up to the corner of the Gate of the Horses toward the east will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted, and it will not be overthrown again forever.”#Literally “to eternity”
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Jeremiah 31: LEB
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Jeremiah 31
31
1“And when that happens”—God’s Decree—
“it will be plain as the sun at high noon:
I’ll be the God of every man, woman, and child in Israel
and they shall be my very own people.”
* * *
2-6This is the way God put it:
“They found grace out in the desert,
these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
met God out looking for them!”
God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again,
dear virgin Israel.
You’ll resume your singing,
grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.
You’ll go back to your old work of planting vineyards
on the Samaritan hillsides,
And sit back and enjoy the fruit—
oh, how you’ll enjoy those harvests!
The time’s coming when watchmen will call out
from the hilltops of Ephraim:
‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion,
go to meet our God!’”
* * *
7Oh yes, God says so:
“Shout for joy at the top of your lungs for Jacob!
Announce the good news to the number-one nation!
Raise cheers! Sing praises. Say,
‘God has saved his people,
saved the core of Israel.’
8“Watch what comes next:
“I’ll bring my people back
from the north country
And gather them up from the ends of the earth,
gather those who’ve gone blind
And those who are lame and limping,
gather pregnant women,
Even the mothers whose birth pangs have started,
bring them all back, a huge crowd!
9“Watch them come! They’ll come weeping for joy
as I take their hands and lead them,
Lead them to fresh flowing brooks,
lead them along smooth, uncluttered paths.
Yes, it’s because I’m Israel’s Father
and Ephraim’s my firstborn son!
10-14“Hear this, nations! God’s Message!
Broadcast this all over the world!
Tell them, ‘The One who scattered Israel
will gather them together again.
From now on he’ll keep a careful eye on them,
like a shepherd with his flock.’
I, God, will pay a stiff ransom price for Jacob;
I’ll free him from the grip of the Babylonian bully.
The people will climb up Zion’s slopes shouting with joy,
their faces beaming because of God’s bounty—
Grain and wine and oil,
flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.
Their lives will be like a well-watered garden,
never again left to dry up.
Young women will dance and be happy,
young men and old men will join in.
I’ll convert their weeping into laughter,
lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy.
I’ll make sure that their priests get three square meals a day
and that my people have more than enough.’” God’s Decree.
* * *
15-17Again, God’s Message:
“Listen to this! Laments coming out of Ramah,
wild and bitter weeping.
It’s Rachel weeping for her children,
Rachel refusing all solace.
Her children are gone,
gone—long gone into exile.”
But God says, “Stop your incessant weeping,
hold back your tears.
Collect wages from your grief work.” God’s Decree.
“They’ll be coming back home!
There’s hope for your children.” God’s Decree.
18-19“I’ve heard the contrition of Ephraim.
Yes, I’ve heard it clearly, saying,
‘You trained me well.
You broke me, a wild yearling horse, to the saddle.
Now put me, trained and obedient, to use.
You are my God.
After those years of running loose, I repented.
After you trained me to obedience,
I was ashamed of my past, my wild, unruly past.
Humiliated, I beat on my chest.
Will I ever live this down?’
20“Oh! Ephraim is my dear, dear son,
my child in whom I take pleasure!
Every time I mention his name,
my heart bursts with longing for him!
Everything in me cries out for him.
Softly and tenderly I wait for him.” God’s Decree.
21-22“Set up signposts to mark your trip home.
Get a good map.
Study the road conditions.
The road out is the road back.
Come back, dear virgin Israel,
come back to your hometowns.
How long will you flit here and there, indecisive?
How long before you make up your fickle mind?
God will create a new thing in this land:
A transformed woman will embrace the transforming God!”
* * *
23-24A Message from Israel’s God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “When I’ve turned everything around and brought my people back, the old expressions will be heard on the streets: ‘God bless you!’ . . . ‘O True Home!’ . . . ‘O Holy Mountain!’ All Judah’s people, whether in town or country, will get along just fine with each other.
25I’ll refresh tired bodies;
I’ll restore tired souls.
26Just then I woke up and looked around—what a pleasant and satisfying sleep!
* * *
27-28“Be ready. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when I will plant people and animals in Israel and Judah, just as a farmer plants seed. And in the same way that earlier I relentlessly pulled up and tore down, took apart and demolished, so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting.
29“When that time comes you won’t hear the old proverb anymore,
Parents ate the green apples,
their children got the stomachache.
30“No, each person will pay for his own sin. You eat green apples, you’re the one who gets sick.
* * *
31-32“That’s right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. It won’t be a repeat of the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even though I did my part as their Master.” God’s Decree.
33-34“This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They’ll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.
If This Ordered Cosmos Ever Fell to Pieces
35 God’s Message, from the God who lights up the day with sun and
brightens the night with moon and stars,
Who whips the ocean into a billowy froth,
whose name is God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
36“If this ordered cosmos ever fell to pieces,
fell into chaos before me”—God’s Decree—
“Then and only then might Israel fall apart
and disappear as a nation before me.”
* * *
37 God’s Message:
“If the skies could be measured with a yardstick
and the earth explored to its core,
Then and only then would I turn my back on Israel,
disgusted with all they’ve done.” God’s Decree.
* * *
38-40“The time is coming”—it’s God’s Decree—“when God’s city will be rebuilt, rebuilt all the way from the Citadel of Hanamel to the Corner Gate. The master plan will extend west to Gareb Hill and then around to Goath. The whole valley to the south where incinerated corpses are dumped—a death valley if there ever was one!—and all the terraced fields out to the Brook Kidron on the east as far north as the Horse Gate will be consecrated to me as a holy place.
“This city will never again be torn down or destroyed.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.