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, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, And they shall 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.

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

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.’

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

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 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 Again you will plant your vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and you will eat the grapes [that grow there].

Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant, and eat 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 I will buy [my] Israeli people back from those who [conquered them because] they were more powerful [than my people].

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

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.

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 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 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 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!”

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

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.

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 [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].

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 [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.’

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

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 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 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.’

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 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 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 [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 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 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 wilt thou wander about, O rebellious daughter? Behold, Jehovah createth a new thing in the earth: The woman shall protect the 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]!’

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 [The people of] Judah [who live in] the towns, including the farmers and the shepherds, will all live together [peacefully].

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

25 I will enable weary people to rest, and enable people who are very exhausted to become strong again.”

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

26 I, [Jeremiah], woke up [after dreaming all those things], and I looked [around]. I had slept [very] delightfully!

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

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 [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.

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 [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 they shall no more say, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.”

30 But now all people will die because of the sins that they themselves have committed.

But every one shall die for his own iniquity; Every man that eateth sour grapes, His teeth shall 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 come, saith Jehovah, That I will make with the house of Israel, And with the house of Judah, a new covenant;

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.’

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 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 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 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.’”

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 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 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 “I will not reject my Israeli people any more than I will get rid of the laws [that control the universe].

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

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!

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 [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.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That the city shall be built to Jehovah From the tower of Hananeel to the corner-gate.

39 [Workers] will stretch a measuring line/string over Gareb Hill all the way [southwest] to Goah.

And the measuring line shall go forth over against it even to the hill Gareb, And extend itself to Goath.

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.”

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.