Jeremiah 31

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

At that time, Declareth Yahweh, I will become a God, to all the families of Israel; And, they, shall become my people.

2 The LORD says, “The people who survive the sword found favour in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”

Thus, saith Yahweh, —There hath found favour in the desert people escaped from the sword, —I must go to cause him, even Israel, to rest.

3 The LORD appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.

From afar, Yahweh hath appeared unto me, Yea with an age-abiding love, have I loved thee, For this cause, have I prolonged to thee lovingkindness.

4 I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry.

Again, will I build thee and thou shalt be built, thou virgin, Israel, —Again, shalt thou deck thyself with thy timbrels, And go forth in the dance of them that make merry:

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

Again, shalt thou plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria, The planters have planted, and have laid open the vineyards,

6 For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to the LORD our God.’”

For it is a day the watchmen have proclaimed throughout the hill country of Ephraim, —Arise ye and let us go up to Zion, unto Yahweh our God.

7 For the LORD says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’

For, thus, saith Yahweh—Shout ye for Jacob with gladness, Make shrill thy voice, as the head of the nations, —Publish ye praise ye and say, Save thou O Yahweh thy people, the remnant of Israel.

8 Behold, 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. They will return as a great company.

Behold me bringing them in out of the land of the North, And I will gather them out of the remote parts of the earth, Among them, the blind and the lame The woman with child and she that giveth birth, together, —A great convocation, shall return hither:

9 They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn.

With weeping, shall they come in, And with supplications, will I lead them, I will bring them unto rivers of waters By a smooth way, wherein they shall not stumble, —For I have become, to Israel, a father, And as for Ephraim, my firstborn, is he!

10 “Hear the LORD’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’

Hear ye the word of Yahweh, O ye nations, And declare ye in the Coastlands, afar off, —And say—He that scattereth Israel, will gather him, And watch over him as a shepherd his flock;

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

For Yahweh hath ransomed Jacob, —And redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he.

12 They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of the LORD, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all.

Then shall they come in and shall shout in triumph on the height of Zion, And shall stream unto the goodness of Yahweh To the wheat, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flocks and of the herds, —So shall their soul become like a garden well watered, And they shall not again languish any more.

13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, 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 shall the virgin rejoice, in the dance, And young men and elders [rejoice] together, And I will turn their mourning into gladness and will comfort them, And will make them rejoice from their sorrow;

14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says the LORD.

Then will I satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, And my people with my goodness, shall be satisfied, Declareth Yahweh.

15 The LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”

Thus, saith Yahweh—A voice, in Ramah, is heard, Wailing, bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, —She refuseth to be comforted for her children, For they are not!

16 The LORD says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” says the LORD. “They will come again from the land of the enemy.

Thus, saith Yahweh—Restrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears, —For there is a reward for thy labour, Declareth Yahweh, So they shall return from the land of the enemy:

17 There is hope for your latter end,” says the LORD. “Your children will come again to their own territory.

Yea there is hope for thy future Declareth Yahweh, —And thy sons shall return to their own boundary.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned, for you are the LORD my God.

I have, heard, Ephraim bemoaning himself, Thou hast chastised me and I have been chastised, Like a bullock, not broken in, Suffer me to return that I may return, For thou, art Yahweh my God.

19 Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

Surely after my return, I was filled with regret, And after I came to know myself, I smote upon the thigh, —I turned pale and was even confounded For I had borne the reproach of my youthful days.

20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,” says the LORD.

Was Ephraim, a very precious son to me? Was he a most delightful child? For as often as I have spoken against him, I have, remembered, him again! For this cause, have my affections been deeply moved for him, I must have, compassion, upon him, Declareth Yahweh.

21 “Set up road signs. Make guideposts. Set your heart towards the highway, even the way by which you went. Turn again, virgin of Israel. Turn again to these your cities.

Erect thee waymarks Set thee up finger-posts, Apply thy heart to The highway—The road by which thou didst depart, —Return O virgin of Israel, Return unto these thy cities.

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 will encompass a man.”

How long wilt thou turn hither and thither, O apostate daughter? For Yahweh hath created a new thing in the earth, A female defendeth, a strong man!

23 The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I reverse their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Again, shall they say this word, in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I cause their captivity to return, Yahweh, bless thee, Thou home of righteousness! Thou mountain of holiness!

24 Judah and all its cities will dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

Then shall there dwell throughout Judah itself and all the cities thereof, together, —Husbandmen, who shall move about with a flock;

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

For I have satiated the weary soul, —And every languishing soul, have I filled.

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

Upon this, I awoke and considered, —And, my sleep, had been sweet to me!

27 “Behold, 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.

Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh—That I will sow, The house of Israel, and The house of Judah, With the seed of men, and With the seed of beasts;

28 It will 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 I will watch over them to build and to plant,” says the LORD.

And it shall come to pass, that—Just as I watched over them, to root up and to break down and to tear out and to destroy, and to break in pieces, So, will I watch over them, to build and to plant, Declareth Yahweh.

29 “In those days they will say no more, “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

In those days, shall they say no more, Fathers, did eat sour grapes, —And, children’s teeth, are blunted!

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

But, every one, for his own iniquity, shall die, —Any human being who eateth the sour grapes, his own teeth, shall be blunted.

31 “Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,

Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, —When I will solemnize—With the house of Israel and With the house of Judah, A new covenant:

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 covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the LORD.

Not like the covenant which I solemnised with their fathers, In the day when I grasped their hand, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, —In that, they, brake my covenant Though, I, had become a husband unto them, Declareth Yahweh.

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 inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

For, this, is the covenant which I will solemnize with the house of Israel after those days Declareth Yahweh, I will put my law within them, Yea, on their heart, will I write it, —So will I become their God, And they shall become my people.

34 They will no longer each teach his neighbour, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Then shall they no longer teach Every man his neighbour, and Every man his brother, saying, Know ye Yahweh, —For, they all, shall know me, From the least of them Even unto the greatest of them, Declareth Yahweh, For I will forgive their iniquity, And their sin, will I remember, no more.

35 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, says:

Thus, saith Yahweh—Who hath given the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, —Who excited the sea, and the waves thereof roared Yahweh of hosts, is his name: —

36 “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says the LORD, “then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.”

If these ordinances depart from before me, Declareth Yahweh, —the seed of Israel also, may cease from being a nation before me, all the days,

37 The LORD says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” says the LORD.

Thus, saith Yahweh—If the heavens above can be measured, Or the foundations of the earth beneath, be searched out I also, may reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, Declareth Yahweh.

38 “Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that the city will be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.

Lo days, are coming, Declareth Yahweh, That the city shall be built for Yahweh, From the tower of Hananeel, [As far as] the gate of the corner;

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

Then shall go forth again the measuring-line straight forward, Over the hill Gareb, And it shall go round to Goah;

40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate towards the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”

And, all the vale of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron torrent-bed, as far as the horse-gate corner on the east, Shall be holy unto Yahweh, —It shall not be rooted up, nor thrown down, any more, unto times age-abiding.