Jeremiah 31

1 At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.

At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, And they shall be my people.

2 The Lord has said, Grace came in the waste land to a people kept safe from the sword, even to Israel on the way to his resting-place.

Thus saith Jehovah: The people, escaped from the sword, hath found favor in the wilderness; I will go and give rest to Israel.

3 From far away he saw the Lord: my love for you is an eternal love: so with mercy I have made you come with me.

Jehovah appeared to me from afar, [[saying, ]] With an everlasting love do I love thee, Therefore have I kept mercy for thee.

4 I will again make new your buildings, O virgin of Israel, and you will take up your place: again you will take up your instruments of music, and go out in the dances of those who are glad.

Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel! Again shalt thou adorn thy tabrets, And go forth in the dance of them that make merry.

5 Again will your vine-gardens be planted on the hill of Samaria: the planters will be planting and using the fruit.

Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant, and eat the fruit.

6 For there will be a day when those who get in the grapes on the hills of Ephraim will be crying, Up! let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God.

For the day is coming when the watchmen shall cry upon Mount Ephraim, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion, To Jehovah, our God.

7 For the Lord has said, Make a glad song for Jacob and give a cry on the top of the mountains: give the news, give praise, and say, The Lord has given salvation to his people, even to the rest of Israel.

For thus saith Jehovah: Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout for the head of the nations! Publish ye, praise ye, and say: Jehovah, thou hast saved thy people, The remnant of Israel.

8 See, I will take them from the north country, and get them from the inmost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the feeble-footed, the woman with child and her who is in birth-pains together: a very great army, they will come back here.

Behold, I will bring them from the land of the North, And gather them from the extremities of the earth; And with them shall be the blind and the lame, The woman with child, and she that is in travail with child together; A great company shall return thither.

9 They will come with weeping, and going before them I will be their guide: guiding them by streams of water in a straight way where there is no falling: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is the first of my sons.

They shall come with weeping, And amid supplications will I lead them; I will conduct them to streams of water, In a straight way, in which they shall not stumble. For I have become a father to Israel, And Ephraim is my first-born.

10 Give ear to the word of the Lord, O you nations, and give news of it in the sea-lands far away, and say, He who has sent Israel wandering will get him together and will keep him as a keeper does his flock.

Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, And proclaim it in the distant coasts, and say: “He that scattered Israel will gather him, And will guard him, as a shepherd his flock.”

11 For the Lord has given a price for Jacob, and made him free from the hands of him who was stronger than he.

For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, And ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

12 So they will come with songs on the high places, flowing together to the good things of the Lord, to the grain and the wine and the oil, to the young ones of the flock and of the herd: their souls will be like a watered garden, and they will have no more sorrow.

And they shall come and sing upon the height of Zion; They shall exult in the bounty of Jehovah, The corn, and the new wine, and the oil, And the young of the flock, and of the herd; And they shall be as a well-watered garden, And they shall languish no more.

13 Then the virgin will have joy in the dance, and the young men and the old will be glad: for I will have their weeping turned into joy, I will give them comfort and make them glad after their sorrow.

Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and old men together, For I will change their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and cheer them after their sorrow.

14 I will give the priests their desired fat things, and my people will have a full measure of my good things, says the Lord.

And I will satisfy the priests with fatness, And my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, saith Jehovah.

15 So has the Lord said: In Ramah there is a sound of crying, weeping and bitter sorrow; Rachel weeping for her children; she will not be comforted for their loss.

Thus saith Jehovah: A voice hath been heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel, weeping for her children, Refuseth to be comforted, because they are no more.

16 The Lord has said this: Keep your voice from sorrow and your eyes from weeping: for your work will be rewarded, says the Lord; and they will come back from the land of their hater.

Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears, For thy labor shall be rewarded, saith Jehovah; They shall come again from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope for the future, says the Lord; and your children will come back to the land which is theirs.

There is hope for thy future days, saith Jehovah; Thy children shall come again to their border.

18 Certainly Ephraim's words of grief have come to my ears, You have given me training and I have undergone it like a young cow unused to the yoke: let me be turned and come back, for you are the Lord my God.

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: “Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, Like a steer not broken. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, For thou, O Jehovah, art my God!

19 Truly, after I had been turned, I had regret for my ways; and after I had got knowledge, I made signs of sorrow: I was put to shame, truly, I was covered with shame, because I had to undergo the shame of my early years.

Surely, after I returned, I repented, And after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea, I was confounded, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.”

20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he the child of my delight? for whenever I say things against him, I still keep him in my memory: so my heart is troubled for him; I will certainly have mercy on him, says the Lord.

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a beloved child? For as often as I speak of him, I do earnestly remember him still. My heart beateth for him; I will have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.

21 Put up guiding pillars, make road signs for yourself: give attention to the highway, even the way in which you went: be turned again, O virgin of Israel, be turned to these your towns.

Set thee up waymarks; Raise thee pillars; Have regard to the highway, the way that thou goest! Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these thy cities!

22 How long will you go on turning this way and that, O wandering daughter? for the Lord has made a new thing on the earth, a woman changed into a man.

How long wilt thou wander about, O rebellious daughter? Behold, Jehovah createth a new thing in the earth: The woman shall protect the man.

23 So the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, Again will these words be used in the land of Judah and in its towns, when I have let their fate be changed: May the blessing of the Lord be on you, O resting-place of righteousness, O holy mountain.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Again shall they say in the land of Judah, And in the cities thereof, when I bring back their captives, “May Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of justice, O holy mountain!”

24 And Judah and all its towns will be living there together; the farmers and those who go about with flocks.

And Judah shall dwell in it, and all his cities together, Husbandmen, and they that go forth with their flocks.

25 For I have given new strength to the tired soul and to every sorrowing soul in full measure.

For I will refresh him that is thirsty, And I will satisfy him that languisheth.

26 At this, awaking from my sleep, I saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

Upon this I awoke, and beheld, And my sleep was sweet to me.

27 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will have Israel and Judah planted with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

Behold, the days come, saith 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.

28 And it will come about that, as I have been watching over them for the purpose of uprooting and smashing down and overturning and sending destruction and causing trouble; so I will be watching over them for the purpose of building up and planting, says the Lord.

And it shall be that as I have watched over them To pluck up, and to pull down, and to overthrow, And to destroy, and to afflict, So will I watch over them To build, and to plant, saith Jehovah.

29 In those days they will no longer say, The fathers have been tasting bitter grapes and the children's teeth are put on edge.

In those days they shall no more say, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.”

30 But everyone will be put to death for the evil which he himself has done: whoever has taken bitter grapes will himself have his teeth put on edge.

But every one shall die for his own iniquity; Every man that eateth sour grapes, His teeth shall be set on edge.

31 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah:

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That I will make with the house of Israel, And with the house of Judah, a new covenant;

32 Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; which agreement was broken by them, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

Not according to 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; Which covenant of mine they broke, And I rejected them, saith Jehovah.

33 But this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my law in their inner parts, writing it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith Jehovah, I will put my law into their inward parts, And upon their hearts will I write it; And I will be their God, And they shall be my people.

34 And no longer will they be teaching every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, Get knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for they will have my forgiveness for their evil-doing, and their sin will go from my memory for ever.

And they shall teach no more, Every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, Saying, “Know ye Jehovah!” For they shall all know me, From the least of them even to the greatest of them, saith Jehovah; For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.

35 These are the words of the Lord, who has given the sun for a light by day, ordering the moon and stars for a light by night, who puts the sea in motion, causing the thunder of its waves; the Lord of armies is his name.

Thus saith Jehovah, Who made the sun for a light by day, And the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night, Who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar, Jehovah of hosts is his name:

36 If the order of these things before me is ever broken, says the Lord, then will the seed of Israel come to an end as a nation before me for ever.

If these ordinances shall depart from before me, Then shall the race of Israel also cease from being a nation before me forever.

37 This is what the Lord has said: If the heavens on high may be measured, and the bases of the earth searched out, then I will give up the seed of Israel, because of all they have done, says the Lord.

Thus saith Jehovah: If the heavens above can be measured, Or the foundations of the earth beneath searched out, Then will I cast off all the race of Israel For all which they have done, saith Jehovah.

38 See, the days are coming, says the Lord, for the building of the Lord's town, from the tower of Hananel to the doorway of the angle.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That the city shall be built to Jehovah From the tower of Hananeel to the corner-gate.

39 And the measuring-line will go out in front of it as far as the hill Gareb, going round to Goah.

And the measuring line shall go forth over against it even to the hill Gareb, And extend itself to Goath.

40 And all the valley of the dead bodies, and all the field of death as far as the stream Kidron, up to the angle of the horses' doorway to the east, will be holy to the Lord; it will not again be uprooted or overturned for ever.

And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, And all the fields to the brook Kidron, Even to the corner of the horsegate toward the East, Shall be holy to Jehovah. No more shall it be plucked up, Or thrown down, forever.