Jeremiah 31
1 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.
“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
2 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.
This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness when Israel went to find rest.”
3 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.’
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
4 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.
Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
5 Again you will plant your vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and you will eat the grapes [that grow there].
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.
6 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!'”
For there will be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!’”
7 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!’
For this is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Make your praises heard, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’
8 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!
Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
9 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.”
They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
10 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.
Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.
11 I will buy [my] Israeli people back from those who [conquered them because] they were more powerful [than my people].
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.
12 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.
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD— the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.
13 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.
Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
14 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!”
I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, and will fill My people with My goodness,”
15 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.
This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
16 [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].
This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy.
17 [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.’
So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.
18 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.
I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
19 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.’
After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 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.
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,”
21 [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.
“Set up the roadmarks, establish the signposts. Keep the highway in mind, the road you have traveled. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours.
22 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]!”
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land— a woman will shelter a man.”
23 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]!’
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’
24 [The people of] Judah [who live in] the towns, including the farmers and the shepherds, will all live together [peacefully].
And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks,
25 I will enable weary people to rest, and enable people who are very exhausted to become strong again.”
for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”
26 I, [Jeremiah], woke up [after dreaming all those things], and I looked [around]. I had slept [very] delightfully!
At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
27 [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.
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast.
28 [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.
Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.
29 [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.
“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
30 But now all people will die because of the sins that they themselves have committed.
Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.
31 [I], Yahweh, say this: ‘There will be a time when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 [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.’
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt— a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,”
33 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.
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
34 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.’”
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
35 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:
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name:
36 “I will not reject my Israeli people any more than I will get rid of the laws [that control the universe].
“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”
37 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!
This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,”
38 [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.
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 [Workers] will stretch a measuring line/string over Gareb Hill all the way [southwest] to Goah.
The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.
40 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.”
The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
