Jeremiah 31

1 “At that time,” a declaration of YHWH, “I am the God of all families of Israel, And they are 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 Thus said YHWH: “A people remaining from the sword Have found grace in the wilderness When Israel went to find rest.”

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

3 YHWH has appeared to me from afar, “I have loved you with perpetual love, Therefore I have drawn you [with] kindness.

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

4 I build you again, And you have been built, O virgin of Israel, You put on your tambourines again, And have gone out in the chorus of the playful.

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 You plant vineyards in mountains of Samaria again, Planters have planted, and made common.

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

6 For there is a day, Watchmen have cried on Mount Ephraim, Rise, and we go up to Zion, to our God YHWH”;

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 thus said YHWH: “Sing [with] joy for Jacob, And cry aloud at the head of the nations, Sound, praise, and say, Save, O YHWH, Your people, the remnant 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 Behold, I am bringing them in from the north country, And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, Blind and lame [are] among them, Conceiving and travailing one—together, A great assembly—they return 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 come in with weeping, And I bring them with supplications, I cause them to go to streams of waters, In a right way—they do not stumble in it, For I have been a Father to Israel, And Ephraim—he [is] My firstborn.”

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 Hear a word of YHWH, O nations, And declare among the far off in the islands, and say: He who is scattering Israel gathers him, And has kept His flock as a shepherd,

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 YHWH has ransomed Jacob, And redeemed him from a hand stronger than he.

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

12 And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed to the goodness of YHWH, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul has been as a watered garden, And they do not add to grieve anymore.

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 a virgin rejoices in a chorus, Both young men and old men—together, And I have turned their mourning to joy, And have comforted them, And gladdened them above 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 And satisfied the soul of the priests [with] fatness, And My people are satisfied with My goodness,” A declaration of YHWH.

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

15 Thus said YHWH: “A voice is heard in Ramah, Wailing [and] the weeping of bitterness, Rachel is weeping for her sons, She has refused to be comforted for her sons, because they are not.”

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 Thus said YHWH: “Withhold your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, For there is a reward for your work,” A declaration of YHWH, “And they have turned back from the land of the enemy.

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 your latter end,” A declaration of YHWH, “And the sons have turned back [to] their border.

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

18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, You have disciplined me, And I am disciplined, as a heifer [that is] not taught, Turn me back, and I turn back, For You [are] my God YHWH.

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 For after my turning back I regretted, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth.

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 a precious son to Me? A child of delights? For since My speaking against him, I still thoroughly remember him, Therefore My bowels have been moved for him, I love him greatly,” A declaration of YHWH.

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 “Set up signs for yourself, Make heaps for yourself, Set your heart to the highway, the way you went, Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these cities of yours.

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 Until when do you withdraw yourself, O backsliding daughter? For YHWH has prepared a new thing in the land, Woman surrounds 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 Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: “Still they say this word in the land of Judah, And in its cities, In My turning back [to] their captivity, YHWH blesses you, habitation of righteousness, Mountain of holiness.

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 farmers have dwelt in Judah, And in all its cities together, And they have journeyed in order.

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

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, And I have filled every grieved soul.”

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

26 On this I have awoken, and I behold, and my sleep has been sweet to me.

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

27 “Behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have sown the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, With seed of man and 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 has been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So I watch over them to build, and to plant,” A declaration of YHWH.

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 no longer say: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, And the sons’ teeth are blunted.

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—each dies for his own iniquity, Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, His teeth are blunted.

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

31 Behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have made a new covenant With the house of Israel And with the house 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 covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day of My laying hold on their hand, To bring them out of the land of Egypt, In that they made My covenant void, And I ruled over them,” A declaration of YHWH.

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 “For this [is] the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days,” A declaration of YHWH, “I have given My law in their inward part, And I write it on their heart, And I have been their God, And they are 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 they do not teach anymore Each his neighbor, and each his brother, Saying, Know YHWH, For they all know Me, from their least to their greatest,” A declaration of YHWH; “For I pardon their iniquity, And I make no more mention of their sin.”

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 Thus said YHWH, Who is giving the sun for a light by day, The statutes of moon and stars for a light by night, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, YHWH of Hosts [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 these statutes depart from before Me,” A declaration of YHWH, “Even the seed of Israel ceases From being a nation before Me [for] all the days.”

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

37 Thus said YHWH: “If the heavens above can be measured, And the foundations of earth searched below, Even I kick against all the seed of Israel, For all that they have done,” A declaration of YHWH.

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 “Behold, days [are coming],” A declaration of YHWH, “And the city has been built for YHWH, From the Tower of Hananeel to the Corner Gate.

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 has gone out again before it, over the height of Gareb, And it has gone around 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 carcasses and of the ashes, And all the fields to the Brook of Kidron, To the corner of the Horse Gate eastward, [Are] holy to YHWH, It is not plucked up, Nor is it thrown down anymore for all time!”

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.