Jeremiah 31

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

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

2 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.

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.

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

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.

4 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.

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.

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

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

6 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."'"

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.

7 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.'

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.

8 '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.

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.

9 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.'"

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.

10 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."

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.

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

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

12 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.

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.

13 "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.

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.

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

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

15 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."

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.

16 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.

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.

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

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

18 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.

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.

19 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.'

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.

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 on him," says the LORD.

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.

21 "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.

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.

22 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."

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.

23 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.'

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.

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

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

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished."

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

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

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

27 "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.

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.

28 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

31 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:

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:

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

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.

33 "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:

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.

34 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."

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.

35 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:

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.

36 "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."

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.

37 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.

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.

38 "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.

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.

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

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

40 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."

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.