< Jeremiah 31 >
1 At the time that [the] utterance of Yahweh I will become God for all [the] clans of Israel and they they will become for me a people.
Yahweh says that at that time, he will be the God [who is worshiped by] all the clans in Israel, and they will be his people.
2 Thus he says Yahweh it found favor in the wilderness [the] people of [the] survivors of [the] sword I will go to give rest it Israel.
This is what Yahweh says: “Those [people] who remained alive and were not killed by [their enemies’] swords were blessed [by me even] in the desert; I enabled them to have peace.
3 From a distance Yahweh he appeared to me and a love of perpetuity I have loved you there-fore I have prolonged to you covenant loyalty.
Long ago [I, ] Yahweh, said to [your ancestors, ] the Israeli people, ‘I have loved you and I will continue to love you forever. By faithfully loving you, I have brought you close to myself.’
4 Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt O virgin of Israel again you will ornament yourself tambourines your and you will go forth in [the] dancing of merry makers.
And [now I tell you], my Israeli people whom I love [MET], that I will cause you to be a nation again. You will [joyfully] dance as you play your tambourines.
5 Again you will plant vineyards on [the] hills of Samaria they will plant planters and they will put [them] to use.
Again you will plant your vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and you will eat the grapes [that grow there].
6 For there [will be] a day [when] they will call out watchmen in [the] hill country of Ephraim arise so we may go up Zion to Yahweh God our.
There will be a time when watchmen will call out from the hills of Samaria [MTY], ‘Come, let’s go up to Jerusalem to [worship] Yahweh, our God!'”
7 For thus - he says Yahweh cry out of Jacob gladness and shout for joy on [the] chief of the nations make a proclamation praise and say save O Yahweh people your [the] remnant of Israel.
And now Yahweh also says this: “Sing joyfully about [what I have done for] the people of Israel! Shout about [your nation, ] the greatest nation! Shout joyfully, praising me and saying, ‘Yahweh, rescue your people, the ones who are still alive!’
8 Here I [am] about to bring them from a land of [the] north and I will gather them from [the] remotest parts of [the] earth [will be] among them [the] blind and [the] lame [the] pregnant and [one] giving birth alike a company great they will return hither.
Do that [because] I will bring them back from the northeast, from the most distant places on the earth. Among them will be blind people and lame people, women who are pregnant and women who are (having labor pains/about to give birth to babies). They will be a huge group of people!
9 With weeping they will come and with supplications I will bring them I will lead them to torrents of water on a path straight not they will stumble in it for I have become of Israel a father and Ephraim [is] firstborn my he.
They will be crying as they return, and they will be praying [to me]. I will guide them along streams of water, on level paths where they will not stumble. [I will do this] because I am [like] a father to the Israeli people; [it is as though] Israel is my oldest son.”
10 Hear [the] word of Yahweh O nations and declare in the islands from a distance and say [the] [one who] scattered of Israel he will gather it and he will keep it like a shepherd flock his.
Yahweh says, “[You people in the] nations of the world, listen to this message from me. Then proclaim it to [people who live along] the coasts far away. I scattered my people, but I will gather them [again] and will take care of them like [SIM] a shepherd takes care of his sheep.
11 For he has ransomed Yahweh Jacob and he has redeemed it from [the] hand of [one too] strong for it.
I will buy [my] Israeli people back from those who [conquered them because] they were more powerful [than my people].
12 And they will come and they will cry out for joy on [the] height of Zion and they will be radiant because of [the] good thing[s] of Yahweh on grain and on new wine and on fresh oil and on [the] young of [the] flock and herd and it will be life their like a garden watered and not they will repeat to languish again.
My people will return [to Jerusalem] and shout joyfully on the slopes of Zion Hill. They will rejoice about the things that I have abundantly given to them— grain and new wine and [olive] oil and young sheep and cattle. They themselves will be like a well-watered garden, and they will no longer be sad.
13 Then she will rejoice a virgin with dancing and young men and old [men] alike and I will turn mourning their into joy and I will comfort them and I will make glad them from sorrow their.
The young women will dance joyfully, and [all] the men, young ones and old ones, will join with them. I will cause them to rejoice instead of mourning; I will comfort them and cause them to be happy instead of being sad.
14 And I will satisfy [the] appetite of the priests fatness and people my good thing[s] my they will be satisfied [the] utterance of Yahweh.
The priests will have plenty of things to eat and drink, and [all] my people will be filled with the good things that I give them. [That will certainly happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!”
15 Thus - he says Yahweh a voice in Ramah [is] heard a mourning song weeping of bitterness Rachel [is] weeping on children her she has refused to be comforted on children her for there not [is] he.
Yahweh [also] says this: “Women were weeping in Ramah [town on the border between Israel and Judah]; they were mourning and crying very loudly. [The women who were the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two grandsons of] Rachel [the wife of Jacob], were weeping about their children, and no one could comfort them because their children were [all] dead.
16 Thus - he says Yahweh restrain voice your from weeping and eyes your from tear[s] for there [will be] a reward for work your [the] utterance of Yahweh and they will return from [the] land of [the] enemy.
[But now] this is what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘Do not cry [any more], because I will reward you [for the good things you have done for your children]. Your children will return from the land where their enemies [have taken them].
17 And there [is] hope for future your [the] utterance of Yahweh and they will return children to own territory their.
[I], Yahweh, am telling you that there are things that you can confidently expect [me to do for you] in the future. Your children will return to their own land.’
18 Certainly I have heard Ephraim bemoaning itself you have disciplined me and I was disciplined like a calf [which] not it had been trained restore me so let me return for you [are] Yahweh God my.
I have heard [the people of] Israel grieving very much [and saying to me], ‘You punished us severely, like [SIM] calves are beaten [by their owners to train them for pulling a plow]. [So] bring us back [to obey/worship you again], because we are ready to return to you, because you [alone] are Yahweh, our God.
19 For after turned away I I repented and after was instructed I I slapped on a thigh I was ashamed and also I was humiliated for I bore [the] reproach of youth my.
We turned away [from you], but we repented; [after you] caused us to realize [that we were guilty]. We beat our chests to show that we were very ashamed [DOU] of the sins that we committed when we were young.’
20 ¿ A son dear of me [is] Ephraim or? a child of delight for as often as speak I in him certainly I remember him still there-fore they are in a tumult inward parts my for him surely I will have compassion on him [the] utterance of Yahweh.
But [I], Yahweh, say this: The Israeli people certainly are [RHQ] still my dear children [DOU]. It is often necessary for me to threaten [to punish] them, but I still love them. That is why I have not forgotten them, and I will certainly act mercifully toward them.
21 Set up for yourself signposts place for yourself guideposts set heart your to the highway [the] way ([which] you went *Q(K)*) return O virgin of Israel return to cities your these.
[You Israeli people, ] set up road signs; put up posts [along the roads] to mark the road on which you walked [when you were taken from Jerusalem]. My precious/beloved Israeli people, come back to your towns here.
22 Until when? will you vacillate! O daughter apostate for he has created Yahweh a new [thing] on the earth a female she will surround a man.
You people who have been like [MET] daughters who have forsaken their parents, how long will you continue to wander [away from me] [RHQ]? I, Yahweh, will cause something to happen on the earth that (is new/has not happened before): The women of Israel will be protecting their husbands as they travel [back here]!”
23 Thus he says Yahweh of hosts [the] God of Israel again people will say the word this in [the] land of Judah and in cities its when turn back I captivity their may he bless you Yahweh O abode of righteousness O mountain of holiness.
This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israeli people [worship], says: “When I bring them back from the countries to which they have been exiled, all the people from the towns in Judah will again say, [‘I hope that] Yahweh will bless this my home, the holy place where righteous [people will live]!’
24 And they will dwell in it Judah and all cities its together farmers and they will journey with flock.
[The people of] Judah [who live in] the towns, including the farmers and the shepherds, will all live together [peacefully].
25 For I give water to [the] throat of [the] weary and every person [who] it has become faint I fill.
I will enable weary people to rest, and enable people who are very exhausted to become strong again.”
26 On this I awoke and I looked and sleep my it was pleasing to me.
I, [Jeremiah], woke up [after dreaming all those things], and I looked [around]. I had slept [very] delightfully!
27 Here! days [are] coming [the] utterance of Yahweh and I will sow [the] house of Israel and [the] house of Judah [the] seed of humankind and [the] seed of animal[s].
[Then] Yahweh said [to me], “There will be a time when I will greatly increase [MET] the number of people and the number of livestock here in Israel and Judah.
28 And it will be just as I kept watch over them to pluck up and to pull down and to tear down and to destroy and to do harm so I will keep watch over them to build and to plant [the] utterance of Yahweh.
[Previously], I caused [their enemies to] remove the people from their land and to destroy their land and to cause them to experience many disasters [DOU]. But in the future, I will enable them to build houses and to plant crops [here in Israel again]. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.
29 In the days those not people will say again fathers they have eaten sour grape[s] and [the] teeth of children they will be blunt.
[Previously the people often said, ] ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but it is the children’s teeth that ache.’ [They meant that it was not fair for them to be punished for their ancestors’ sins]. But [when I bring them back to their land], they will no longer say that.
30 That except everyone for own iniquity his he will die every person who eats the sour grape[s] they will be blunt teeth his.
But now all people will die because of the sins that they themselves have committed.
31 Here! days [are] coming [the] utterance of Yahweh and I will make with [the] house of Israel and with [the] house of Judah a covenant new.
[I], Yahweh, say this: ‘There will be a time when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
32 Not like the covenant which I made with ancestors their on [the] day took hold I on hand their to bring out them from [the] land of Egypt who they they broke covenant my and I I was a husband over them [the] utterance of Yahweh.
[This new agreement will] not be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors when I took them by their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I [loved them like] [MET] husbands love their wives.’
33 That this [is] the covenant which I will make with [the] house of Israel after the days those [the] utterance of Yahweh I will put law my in inner being their and on heart their I will write it and I will become for them God and they they will become for me a people.
This is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘This is the new agreement that I will make with the people of Israel some day: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their inner beings. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 And not they will teach again each neighbor his and each brother his saying know Yahweh for all of them they will know me from little their and unto great their [the] utterance of Yahweh that I will forgive iniquity their and sin their not I will remember again.
And it will not be [necessary] for them to teach their neighbors or their relatives and say, “[You need to] know Yahweh,” because everyone, including unimportant people and very important people, will [already] know me. And I will forgive them for having been very wicked, and I will never think again about the sins that they have committed.’”
35 Thus - he says Yahweh [who] gives [the] sun for light by day [the] fixed order of [the] moon and [the] stars for light night [who] stirs up the sea and they roared waves its [is] Yahweh of hosts name his.
Yahweh is the one who causes the sun to give light during the day, and who causes the moon and the stars to give light during the night. He stirs up the seas, with the result that waves roar. His name is the Commander of the armies of angels, and this is what he says:
36 If they will depart the fixed order these from to before me [the] utterance of Yahweh also [the] offspring of Israel they will cease from being a nation before me all the days.
“I will not reject my Israeli people any more than I will get rid of the laws [that control the universe].
37 Thus - he says Yahweh if they will be measured [the] heavens from to above so they may be explored [the] foundations of [the] earth downwards also I I will reject all [the] offspring of Israel on all that they have done [the] utterance of Yahweh.
And this is what I say: ‘No one can measure the sky, and no one can find out what is supporting the earth. Similarly, I cannot reject forever the descendants of Jacob because of all the [evil] things that they have done.’ [That is certain, because] I, Yahweh, have said it!
38 Here! (days [are] coming *Q(K)*) [the] utterance of Yahweh and it will be rebuilt the city for Yahweh from [the] tower of Hananel [the] gate of the corner.
[I], Yahweh, also say that there will be a time when [everything in] Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me, from the tower of Hananel [at the northeast corner, west] to [the gate named] the Corner Gate.
39 And it will go out again ([the] line of *Q(K)*) measurement before itself to [the] hill of Gareb and it will turn Goah towards.
[Workers] will stretch a measuring line/string over Gareb Hill all the way [southwest] to Goah.
40 And all the valley of the corpses - and the fatty ash and all (the terraced fields *Q(K)*) to [the] wadi of Kidron to [the] corner of [the] gate of the horses east-ward [will be] holy to Yahweh not it will be plucked up and not it will be torn down again for ever.
And the whole area, including the place where corpses and ashes are thrown in the [Kidron] Valley, and all the fields to the east as far as the Horse Gate, will become set apart for me. And the city [of Jerusalem] will never again be captured or destroyed.”