Jeremiah 31
1 At that time, says Jehovah, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
At that time, I will be the God of all Israel's families, and they will be my people, declares the Lord.
2 Thus says Jehovah: The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness, even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
This is what the Lord says: The Israelites who survive death by the sword were blessed by the Lord in the desert as they looked for peace and quiet.
3 Jehovah appeared of old to me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee.
Long ago the Lord came and told us, My love for you will last forever. I hold you close to me with my trustworthy love.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shall be built, O virgin of Israel. Again thou shall be adorned with thy tambourine, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.
I'm going to rebuild you, and it will happen. You will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will pick up your tambourines again and run outside to dance with joy.
5 Again thou shall plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria. The planters shall plant, and shall enjoy it.
You will replant vineyards on Samaria's hills; those who plant and will enjoy the grapes.
6 For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion to Jehovah our God.
A day is coming when watchmen will call out from the hills of Ephraim, “Come on, let's go up to Zion, to worship the Lord our God!”
7 For thus says Jehovah: Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
This is what the Lord says: Sing happily for the descendants of Jacob; shout for the greatest of all nations! Let everybody know! Praise and call out, “Lord, save your people, those who are left of Israel!”
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the outermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind man and the lame man, the woman with child, and she who travails with child together. They shall return here a great company.
Watch, because I will bring them back from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Everyone will return, even the blind and the lame, pregnant women, even mothers giving birth—a great gathering coming home,
9 They shall come with weeping. And I will lead them with supplications. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble. For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
They will come back with tears in their eyes, and they will be praying as I take them home. I will lead them beside streams of waters, on level paths where they won't stumble. For I am Israel's Father; Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.
Listen, nations, to what the Lord has to say, and let others know about in faraway countries: The Lord who scattered Israel will gather them together and keep them safe, just like a shepherd looks after his flock.
11 For Jehovah has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
The Lord has redeemed the descendants of Jacob and rescued them from their enemies who had defeated them.
12 And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Jehovah, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. And their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
They will return and celebrate with happy shouts on Mount Zion; their faces will beam over the Lord's wonderful gifts—the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the young of their flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden; and they won't ever be depressed again.
13 Then the virgin shall rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together, for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
The girls will dance in celebration; young men and old people will join in too. I will turn their sorrow into joy, and I will comfort them and change their sadness into happiness.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says Jehovah.
I will give my priests everything they need and more, and my people will be more than satisfied with my goodness towards them, declares the Lord.
15 Thus says Jehovah: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping. Rachel weeping for her children, she refused to be comforted for her children, because they are not.
This is what the Lord says: The sound of terrible weeping and mourning is heard in Ramah. It's Rachel crying for her children. They are dead, and she can't be comforted
16 Thus says Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be rewarded, says Jehovah, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
This is what the Lord says: Don't cry anymore, don't weep anymore, because you're going to be rewarded for what you've done, declares the Lord. Your children will return from the country of your enemies.
17 And there is hope for thy latter end, says Jehovah, and thy sons shall come again to their own border.
So you can have hope for the future, declares the Lord. Your children will return to their own country.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself saying, Thou have chastised me, and I was chastised as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me back, and I shall be turned back, for thou are Jehovah my God.
Don't worry, I've heard Ephraim's groans, saying, “You disciplined me really hard as if I was a calf that hadn't been trained. Please bring me back, let me return, for you are the Lord my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned back. I repented, and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.
When I came back to you I was sorry, and once I understood, I held my head in sadness. I was ashamed and I blushed, embarrassed at what I'd done when I was young.”
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, says Jehovah.
But isn't Ephraim still my precious son, my lovely child? Even though I often have to scold him, I can't forget him. So I'm torn inside with longing, wanting to show how much I care about him! declares the Lord.
21 Set thee up road marks. Make thee guideposts. Set thy heart toward the highway, even the way by which thou went. Turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
Put up markers on the road; make signposts for yourselves. You need to be sure you can find the highway, the road you traveled on. Come back, Virgin Israel, come back to your towns.
22 How long will thou go here and there, O thou backsliding daughter? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.
How long are you going to waver in your decision, you unfaithful daughter? For the Lord has made something new happen here: a woman is going to protect a man.
23 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Yet again they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof when I shall bring again their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: When I bring them back home from exile, they will say again in the land of Judah and in its towns: “May the Lord bless you, holy mountain of Jerusalem, home of what is good and right.
24 And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell in there together, the husbandmen, and those who go about with flocks.
The people of Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, the farmers and those who move around with their flocks,
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul I have replenished.
because I'm going to give rest to those who are tired and give strength to all those who are weak.”
26 Upon this I awoke, and beheld, and my sleep was sweet to me.
At this I woke up and looked around. I'd had a very pleasant sleep.
27 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make the numbers of people and livestock grow in Israel and Judah.
28 And it shall come to pass that, just as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says Jehovah.
I took care of them by uprooting them and tearing them down, by wiping them out and destroying them and bringing them disaster. Now I will take care of them by building them up and helping them grow, declares the Lord.
29 In those days they shall no more say, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the son's teeth are set on edge.
At that time people won't repeat this proverb, “The fathers ate the unripe grapes, but their children got the sour taste.”
30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
No. Each person will die because of their own sins. If anyone eats unripe grapes, they will get the sour taste themselves.
31 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says Jehovah.
It won't be like the agreement that I made with their forefathers when I held their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was faithful like a husband to them, declares the Lord.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Jehovah: I will give my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
But this is the agreement I'm going to make with the people of Israel at that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws inside them and write them in their minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, “You ought to know the Lord.” For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.
35 Thus says Jehovah, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar. Jehovah of hosts is his name.
This is what the Lord says, who provides the sun to give light during the day, who places in order the moon and stars to give light at night, who makes the sea rough so that its waves roar; his name is the Lord Almighty:
36 If these ordinances depart from before me, says Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
Only if I allowed this order to fell apart, declares the Lord, would Israel's descendants stop being my people.
37 Thus says Jehovah: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says Jehovah.
This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth below could be investigated, would I reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything they've done, declares the Lord.
38 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, all the way from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.
The builder's measuring line will again stretch out directly to Gareb Hill and then turn toward Goah.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields, to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to Jehovah. It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.
The entire valley, where the dead are buried and the trash is dumped, and all the fields from the Kidron Valley as far as the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the Lord. Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.
