Jeremiah 31

1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God for all the families of Israel, and they shall be unto me for a people.

2 Thus hath said the Lord, The people of those that are escaped of the sword found grace in the wilderness, —even Israel, when it went to find rest.

3 “From afar is the Lord appeared unto me,” [saying, ] Yea, with an everlasting love have I loved thee; therefore have I guided thee with loving-kindness.

4 Yet again will I build thee up, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: yet again shalt thou adorn thy timbrels, and go forth in the dances of those that make merry.

5 Yet again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall redeem the fruit.

6 For there cometh a day, that the watchers call out upon the mountain of Ephraim, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.

7 For thus hath said the Lord, Sing for Jacob with joy, and shout at the head of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, The Lord hath helped thy people, the remnant of Israel.

8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and I will gather them from the farthest ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she that travaileth with child together: a great assembly shall they return hither.

9 With weeping shall they come, and with supplications will I bring them in: I will lead them by brooks of water in a straight way, whereon they shall not stumble; for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and tell it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd his flock.

11 For the Lord hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him out of the hand of one stronger than he.

12 And they shall come and sing on the height of Zion, and shall come together as a stream to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flocks and of the herds, and their soul shall be as a well-watered garden; and they shall not farther experience grief any more.

13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and youth and old men together: and I will change their mourning into gladness, and I will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.

15 Thus hath said the Lord, A voice is heard in Ramah, groaning, weeping, and bitter lamentation; Rachel is weeping for her children: she refuseth to be comforted for her children because they are not [here].

16 Thus hath said the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thy eyes from tears; for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord, and they shall return from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope for [thee in] thy future, saith the Lord, and thy children shall return to their own borders.

18 I have indeed heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, “Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untamed calf; cause me to return, and I will return; for thou art the Lord my God.

19 Surely after my returning, I repent; and after I am made conscious [by punishment], I smite upon my thigh: I am ashamed, yea, I am confounded, because I bear the disgrace of my youth.”

20 Is not Ephraim a dear son unto me? or a child that I dandle? for whenever I speak of him, I do earnestly remember him again: therefore are my inward parts moved for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.

21 Set thyself up waymarks, place thyself pillars; direct thy heart toward the highway, the way which thou didst go: return, O virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities.

22 How long wilt thou roam about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing on the earth, The woman will go about [seeking for] the husband.

23 Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they say this word in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I will bring back again their captivity, —May the Lord bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O holy mountain.

24 And there shall dwell therein Judah, and in all his cities together, husbandmen, and they that move about with the flocks.

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and every grieving soul have I gratified.

26 For this did I awake, and looked about, and my sleep was sweet unto me.

27 Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man; and with the seed of cattle.

28 And it shall come to pass, that just as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to overthrow, and to destroy, and to do harm: so will I watch over them, to build up, and to plant, saith the Lord.

29 In those days shall they not say any more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge;

30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes—his teeth shall be set on edge.

31 Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will make with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, a new covenant;

32 Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day that I took hold of them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they have broken, although I was become their husband, saith the Lord;

33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, I place my law in their inward parts, and upon their heart will I write it; and I will be unto them for a God, and they shall be unto me for a people.

34 And they shall not teach any more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they all shall know me, from the least of them even unto their greatest, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I not remember any more.

35 Thus hath said the Lord, who bestoweth the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea that its waves roar—The Lord of hosts is his name:

36 If these ordinances ever depart from before me, saith the Lord, then also shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation before me during all time.

37 Thus hath said the Lord, If the heavens can be measured above, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath: then also will I reject all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord.

38 Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when the city shall be built up to the Lord from the tower of Chananel unto the corner-gate.

39 And the measuring-line shall yet again go forth opposite it over the hill Gareb, and shall take a turn to Go'ath.

40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all fields as far as the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the horse-gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord: it shall not be plucked up, nor overthrown any more to eternity.