Jeremiah 31

1 “In 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," says the LORD, "will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who had remained after the sword, found grace in the desert. Israel will go to his rest.”

Thus says the LORD, "The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

3 The Lord appeared to me from a distance: “And I have loved you in perpetual charity. Therefore, showing pity, I have drawn you.

The LORD appeared to him from afar. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.

4 And I will build you up again. And you shall be built up, O virgin of Israel. Still shall you be adorned with your timbrels, and still shall you go forth to the singing of those who play.

Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again you shall be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.

5 Still shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and they will not gather the vintage until the time arrives.

Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy its fruit.

6 For there will be a day on which the guardians on mount Ephraim will cry out: ‘Arise! And let us ascend on Zion to the Lord our God!’”

For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, "Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the LORD our God."'"

7 For thus says the Lord: “Exult in the joy of Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles. Shout, and sing, and say: ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’

For thus says the LORD, "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, 'For the LORD has saved your people, the remnant of Israel.'

8 Behold, I will lead them from the land of the north, and I will gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, she who is with child, together with she who is giving birth: a great assembly returning to this place.

'Look, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here.

9 They will approach with weeping. And I will lead them back with mercy. And I will lead them through the torrents of water, by an upright way, and they will not stumble in it. For I have become Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”

They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: 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.'"

10 Listen to the word of the Lord, O Gentiles, and announce it amid the islands that are far away, and say: “Whoever has scattered Israel will gather him, and he will guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.”

Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd does his flock."

11 For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and he has freed him from the hand of one more powerful.

For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12 And they will arrive and give praise on Mount Zion. And they will flow together, to the good things of the Lord, over grain, and wine, and oil, and the offspring of cattle and herds. And their soul will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer be hungry.

They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and they shall be radient over the goodness of the LORD, 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.

13 Then the virgin will rejoice with singing, the young and the old together, and I will turn their mourning into gladness, and I will console them and gladden them after their sorrow.

"Then shall the virgin 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.

14 And I will inebriate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be filled with my good things, says the Lord.”

I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness," says the LORD.

15 Thus says the Lord: “A voice has been heard on high: of lamentation, mourning, and weeping; of Rachel crying for her sons and refusing to be consoled over them, because they are not.”

Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and weeping and great bitterness, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."

16 Thus says the Lord: “Let your voice cease from crying and your eyes from tears. For there is a reward for your work, says the Lord. And they will return from the land of the enemy.

Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded," says the LORD; "and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope for your very end, says the Lord. And the sons will return to their own borders.

There is hope for your latter end," says the LORD; "and your children shall come again to their own border.

18 Listening, I heard Ephraim going into captivity: ‘You have chastised me, and I was instructed, like a young untamed bull. Convert me, and I shall be converted. For you are the Lord my God.

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are the LORD my God.

19 For after you converted me, I did penance. And after you revealed to me, I struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed. For I have endured the disgrace of my youth.’

Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.'

20 Certainly, Ephraim is an honorable son to me; surely, he is a tender child. For I will still remember him, as in the time when I first spoke about him. Because my heart is stirred up over him, surely I will take pity on him, says the Lord.

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 on him," says the LORD.

21 Establish a watchtower for yourself. Place yourself in bitterness. Direct your heart into the upright way, in which you used to walk. Return, return, O virgin of Israel, to these your cities!

"Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.

22 How long will you be absorbed in delights, O wandering daughter? For the Lord has created something new upon the earth: a woman will encompass a man.”

How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man."

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Still they will speak this word in the land of Judah, and in its cities, when I will convert their captivity: ‘May the Lord bless you, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain.’

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: 'The LORD bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.'

24 And they will live in it: Judah together with all its cities, the farmer and those who drive the flocks.

Judah and all its cities shall dwell in it together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

25 For I have inebriated the weary soul, and I have satisfied every hungry soul.

For I have satisfied the weary soul, and I have filled every sorrowful soul."

26 Over this, I was awakened, as if from a deep sleep. And I saw, and my sleep became sweet to me.

On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

27 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and with the offspring of cattle.

"Look, the days come," says the LORD, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.

28 And just as I have watched over them, so that I may root up, and tear down, and scatter, and destroy, and afflict, so will I watch over them, so that I may build and plant them, says the Lord.

It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant," says the LORD.

29 In those days, they will no longer say: ‘The fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of the sons have been affected.’

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

30 Instead, each one will die for his own iniquity. Each man who will have eaten a bitter grape, his own teeth will be affected.

But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

31 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will form a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

Look, the days come," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand, so as to lead them away from the land of Egypt, the covenant which they nullified, though I was the ruler over them, says the Lord.

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; which my covenant they broke, and I disregarded them," says the LORD.

33 But this will be the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord: I will give my law to their inner most being, and I will write it upon their heart. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the LORD: "I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:

34 And they will no longer teach, a man his neighbor, and a man his brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord.’ For all will know me, from the littlest of them even to the greatest, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will no longer remember their sin.

and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD'; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins I will remember no more."

35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun as the light of the day, who puts the moon and the stars in order as the light of the night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar: the Lord of hosts is his name.

Thus says the LORD, 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 its waves roar; the LORD of hosts is his name:

36 If these laws fail in my sight, says the Lord, then the offspring of Israel will also fail, so that they will not be a people in my sight for all time.”

"If this fixed order departs from before me," says the LORD, "then the descendants of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever."

37 Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above are able to be measured, and if the foundations of the earth beneath can be examined, I also will cast aside all the offspring of Israel, because of all that they have done, says the Lord.

Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the descendants of Israel for all that they have done," says the LORD.

38 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when a city will be built for the Lord from the tower of Hananel, even to the Gate of the Corner;

"Look, the days come," says the LORD, "that the city shall be built to the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

39 and the measuring line will go on even further in his sight, over the hill of Gareb, and it will encircle Goah

The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.

40 and the entire Valley of dead bodies and ashes, and the entire region of death, even to the torrent of Kedron, and to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east. All this will be the holy place of the Lord. It will not be rooted up, and it will not be torn down, anymore, forever.”

The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever."