Jeremiah 31
1 At the same time, saith the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
“At that time—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.”
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people who were left by the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
Yahweh says this, “The people who have survived the sword have found favor in the wilderness; I will go out to give rest to Israel.”
3 The LORD appeared of old to me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Yahweh appeared to me in the past and said, “I have loved you, Israel, with everlasting love. So I have drawn you toward myself with covenant faithfulness.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
I will build you up again so you will be built, virgin Israel. You will again pick up your tambourines and go out with happy dances.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
You will plant vineyards again on the mountains of Samaria; the farmers will plant and put the fruit to good use.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion to the LORD our God.
For a day will come when the watchmen in the mountains of Ephraim will proclaim, 'Arise, let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.'
7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: proclaim ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
For Yahweh says this, “Shout for joy over Jacob! Shout in gladness for the chief people of the nations! Let praise be heard. Say, 'Yahweh has rescued his people, the remnant of Israel.'
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return there.
See, I am about to bring them from the northern lands. I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. The blind and lame will be among them; pregnant women and those who are about to give birth will be with them. A great assembly will return here.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the 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 weeping; I will lead them as they make their pleas. I will have them journey to streams of water on a straight road. They will not stumble on it, for I will be a father to Israel, and Ephraim will be my firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
“Hear the word of Yahweh, nations. Report along the coasts in the distance. You nations must say, 'The one who scattered Israel is gathering her up and keeping her as a shepherd keeps his sheep.'
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from the hand that was too strong for him.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for grain, and for wine, and for oil, and for 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.
Then they will come and rejoice on the heights of Zion. Their faces will shine because of Yahweh's goodness, over the corn and the new wine, over the oil and the offspring of the flocks and herds. For their lives will become like a watered garden, and they will never again feel any more sorrow.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
Then virgins will rejoice with dancing, and young and old men will be together. For I will change their mourning into celebration. I will have compassion on them and cause them to rejoice instead of sorrowing.
14 And I will abundantly satisfy the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
Then I will saturate the lives of the priests in abundance. My people will fill themselves with my goodness—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
Yahweh says this: “A voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and bitter weeping. It is Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted over them, for they live no longer.”
16 Thus saith the LORD; Restrain thy voice from weeping, and thy eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
Yahweh says this, “Hold your voice back from weeping and your eyes from tears; there is a reward for your work—this is Yahweh's declaration—your children will return from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thy end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
There is hope for your future—this is Yahweh's declaration—your descendants will return inside their borders.”
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bull unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
“I have certainly heard Ephraim sorrowing, 'You punished me, and I have been punished like an untrained calf. Bring me back and I will be brought back, for you are Yahweh my God.
19 Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.
For after I turned back to you, I was sorry; after I was trained, I slapped my thigh. I was ashamed and humiliated, for I have borne the guilt of my youth.'
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart is troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
Is not Ephraim my precious child? Is he not my dear, delightful son? For whenever I speak against him, I certainly still call him to my loving mind. In this way my heart longs for him. I will certainly have compassion on him—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thy heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
Place road signs for yourself. Set up guideposts for yourself. Set your mind on the right path, the way you should take. Come back, virgin Israel! Come back to these cities of yours.
22 How long wilt thou wander about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall encompass a man.
How long will you waver, faithless daughter? For Yahweh has created something new on earth—a woman surrounds a strong man.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captives; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, mountain of holiness.
Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this, “When I bring back the people to their land, they will say this in the land of Judah and its cities, 'May Yahweh bless you, you righteous place where he lives, you holy mountain.'
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers, and they that go forth with flocks.
For Judah and all its cities will live together there, as will farmers and those who set out with flocks.
25 For I have abundantly satisfied the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
For I will cause those who are weary to drink, and I fill up those who are faint.”
26 Upon this I awoke, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet to me.
After this I awoke, and I realized that my sleep had been refreshing.
27 Behold, the days come, saith 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 beast.
“Look, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when I will sow the houses of Israel and Judah with the descendants of man and beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
In the past, I kept them under surveillance in order to uproot them and to tear them down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring them harm. But in the coming days, I will watch over them, in order to build them up and to plant them—this is Yahweh's declaration.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
In those days no one will say any longer, 'Fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the children's teeth are dulled.'
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
For each man will die in his own iniquity; everyone who eats sour grapes, his teeth will be dulled.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Look, the days are coming —this is Yahweh's declaration— when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house 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, although I was an husband to them, saith the LORD:
It will not be like the covenant that I established with their fathers in the days when I took them by their hand to bring them out from the land of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, although I was a husband for them. —this is Yahweh's declaration.
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
This is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after these days —this is Yahweh's declaration. I will place my law within them and will write it on their heart, for I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Then each man will no longer teach his neighbor, or a man teach his brother and say, 'Know Yahweh!' For all of them will know me, from the smallest of them to the greatest —this is Yahweh's declaration— for I will forgive their iniquity and will no longer call their sins to mind.”
35 Thus saith the LORD, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who divideth the sea when its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
Yahweh says this, it is he who makes the sun to shine by day and fixes the moon and stars to shine by night. He is the one who sets the sea in motion so that its waves roar— Yahweh of hosts is his name.
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
“Only if these permanent things vanish from my sight—this is Yahweh's declaration— will Israel's descendants ever stop from forever being a nation before me.”
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
Yahweh says this, “Only if the highest heavens can be measured, and only if the earth's foundation below can be discovered, will I reject all of Israel's descendants because of all that they have done—this is Yahweh's declaration.”
38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.
“Look, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when the city will be rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth straight forward over the hill Gareb, and shall turn toward Goath.
Then the measuring line will go out again farther, to the hill of Gareb and around Goah.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook of Kidron, 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 for ever.
The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the terraced fields going out to the Kidron Valley as far as the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, will be set apart for Yahweh. The city will not be pulled up or overthrown again, forever.”
