Jeremiah 31
1 At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, I am for God to all families of Israel, And they — they are to Me for a people.
At that time, I will be the God of all Israel's families, and they will be my people, declares the Lord.
2 Thus said Jehovah: Found grace in the wilderness Hath a people remaining from the sword Going to cause it to rest — Israel.
This is what the Lord says: The Israelites who survive death by the sword were blessed by the Lord in the desert as they looked for peace and quiet.
3 From afar Jehovah hath appeared to me, With love age-during I have loved thee, Therefore I have drawn thee [with] kindness.
Long ago the Lord came and told us, My love for you will last forever. I hold you close to me with my trustworthy love.
4 Again do I build thee, And thou hast been built, O virgin of Israel, Again thou puttest on thy tabrets, And hast gone out in the chorus of the playful.
I'm going to rebuild you, and it will happen. You will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will pick up your tambourines again and run outside to dance with joy.
5 Again thou dost plant vineyards In mountains of Samaria, Planters have planted, and made common.
You will replant vineyards on Samaria's hills; those who plant and will enjoy the grapes.
6 For there is a day, Cried have watchmen on mount Ephraim, 'Rise, and we go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God;
A day is coming when watchmen will call out from the hills of Ephraim, “Come on, let's go up to Zion, to worship the Lord our God!”
7 For thus said Jehovah: Sing, O ye to Jacob, [with] joy, And cry aloud at the head of the nations, Sound ye, praise ye, and say, Save, O Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel.
This is what the Lord says: Sing happily for the descendants of Jacob; shout for the greatest of all nations! Let everybody know! Praise and call out, “Lord, save your people, those who are left of Israel!”
8 Lo, I am bringing them in from the north country, And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, Among them [are] blind and lame, Conceiving and travailing one — together, A great assembly — they turn back hither.
Watch, because I will bring them back from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Everyone will return, even the blind and the lame, pregnant women, even mothers giving birth—a great gathering coming home,
9 With weeping they come in, And with supplications I bring them, I cause them to go unto streams of waters, In a right way — they stumble not in it, For I have been to Israel for a father, And Ephraim — My first-born [is] he.
They will come back with tears in their eyes, and they will be praying as I take them home. I will lead them beside streams of waters, on level paths where they won't stumble. For I am Israel's Father; Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear a word of Jehovah, O nations, And declare ye among isles afar off, and say: He who is scattering Israel doth gather him, And hath kept him as a shepherd [doth] his flock,
Listen, nations, to what the Lord has to say, and let others know about in faraway countries: The Lord who scattered Israel will gather them together and keep them safe, just like a shepherd looks after his flock.
11 For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, And redeemed him from a hand stronger than he.
The Lord has redeemed the descendants of Jacob and rescued them from their enemies who had defeated them.
12 And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed unto the goodness of Jehovah, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul hath been as a watered garden, And they add not to grieve any more.
They will return and celebrate with happy shouts on Mount Zion; their faces will beam over the Lord's wonderful gifts—the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the young of their flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden; and they won't ever be depressed again.
13 Then rejoice doth a virgin in a chorus, Both young men and old men — together, And I have turned their mourning to joy, And have comforted them, And gladdened them above their sorrow,
The girls will dance in celebration; young men and old people will join in too. I will turn their sorrow into joy, and I will comfort them and change their sadness into happiness.
14 And satisfied the soul of the priests [with] fatness, And My people with My goodness are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.
I will give my priests everything they need and more, and my people will be more than satisfied with my goodness towards them, declares the Lord.
15 Thus said Jehovah, A voice in Ramah is heard, wailing, weeping most bitter, Rachel is weeping for her sons, She hath refused to be comforted for her sons, because they are not.
This is what the Lord says: The sound of terrible weeping and mourning is heard in Ramah. It's Rachel crying for her children. They are dead, and she can't be comforted
16 Thus said Jehovah: Withhold thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, For there is a reward for thy work, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they have turned back from the land of the enemy.
This is what the Lord says: Don't cry anymore, don't weep anymore, because you're going to be rewarded for what you've done, declares the Lord. Your children will return from the country of your enemies.
17 And there is hope for thy latter end, An affirmation of Jehovah, And the sons have turned back [to] their border.
So you can have hope for the future, declares the Lord. Your children will return to their own country.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, 'Thou hast chastised me, And I am chastised, as a heifer not taught, Turn me back, and I turn back, For thou [art] Jehovah my God.
Don't worry, I've heard Ephraim's groans, saying, “You disciplined me really hard as if I was a calf that hadn't been trained. Please bring me back, let me return, for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after my turning back I repented, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth.
When I came back to you I was sorry, and once I understood, I held my head in sadness. I was ashamed and I blushed, embarrassed at what I'd done when I was young.”
20 A precious son is Ephraim to Me? A child of delights? For since My speaking against him, I do thoroughly remember him still, Therefore have My bowels been moved for him, I do greatly love him, An affirmation of Jehovah.
But isn't Ephraim still my precious son, my lovely child? Even though I often have to scold him, I can't forget him. So I'm torn inside with longing, wanting to show how much I care about him! declares the Lord.
21 Set up for thee signs, make for thee heaps, Set thy heart to the highway, the way thou wentest, Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back unto these thy cities.
Put up markers on the road; make signposts for yourselves. You need to be sure you can find the highway, the road you traveled on. Come back, Virgin Israel, come back to your towns.
22 Till when dost thou withdraw thyself, O backsliding daughter? For Jehovah hath prepared a new thing in the land, Woman doth compass man.
How long are you going to waver in your decision, you unfaithful daughter? For the Lord has made something new happen here: a woman is going to protect a man.
23 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Still they say this word in the land of Judah, And in its cities, In My turning back [to] their captivity, Jehovah doth bless thee, habitation of righteousness, Mountain of holiness.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: When I bring them back home from exile, they will say again in the land of Judah and in its towns: “May the Lord bless you, holy mountain of Jerusalem, home of what is good and right.
24 And dwelt in Judah have husbandmen, and in all its cities together, And they have journeyed in order.
The people of Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, the farmers and those who move around with their flocks,
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, And every grieved soul I have filled.'
because I'm going to give rest to those who are tired and give strength to all those who are weak.”
26 On this I have awaked, and I behold, and my sleep hath been sweet to me.
At this I woke up and looked around. I'd had a very pleasant sleep.
27 Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sown the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, With seed of man, and seed of beast.
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make the numbers of people and livestock grow in Israel and Judah.
28 And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.
I took care of them by uprooting them and tearing them down, by wiping them out and destroying them and bringing them disaster. Now I will take care of them by building them up and helping them grow, declares the Lord.
29 In those days they do not say any more: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted.
At that time people won't repeat this proverb, “The fathers ate the unripe grapes, but their children got the sour taste.”
30 But — each for his own iniquity doth die, Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, Blunted are his teeth.
No. Each person will die because of their own sins. If anyone eats unripe grapes, they will get the sour taste themselves.
31 Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have made with the house of Israel And with the house of Judah a new covenant,
Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
32 Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day of My laying hold on their hand, To bring them out of the land of Egypt, In that they made void My covenant, And I ruled over them — an affirmation of Jehovah.
It won't be like the agreement that I made with their forefathers when I held their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was faithful like a husband to them, declares the Lord.
33 For this [is] the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people.
But this is the agreement I'm going to make with the people of Israel at that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws inside them and write them in their minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 And they do not teach any more Each his neighbour, and each his brother, Saying, Know ye Jehovah, For they all know Me, from their least unto their greatest, An affirmation of Jehovah; For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I make mention no more.
No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, “You ought to know the Lord.” For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.
35 Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving the sun for a light by day, The statutes of moon and stars for a light by night, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name:
This is what the Lord says, who provides the sun to give light during the day, who places in order the moon and stars to give light at night, who makes the sea rough so that its waves roar; his name is the Lord Almighty:
36 If these statutes depart from before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, Even the seed of Israel doth cease From being a nation before Me all the days.
Only if I allowed this order to fell apart, declares the Lord, would Israel's descendants stop being my people.
37 Thus said Jehovah: If the heavens above be measured, And the foundations of earth below searched, Even I kick against all the seed of Israel, For all that they have done, An affirmation of Jehovah.
This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth below could be investigated, would I reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything they've done, declares the Lord.
38 Lo, days [are coming], an affirmation of Jehovah, And the city hath been built to Jehovah, From the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, all the way from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 And gone out again hath the measuring line Over-against it, unto the height of Gareb, And it hath compassed to Goah.
The builder's measuring line will again stretch out directly to Gareb Hill and then turn toward Goah.
40 And all the valley of the carcases and of the ashes, And all the fields unto the brook Kidron, Unto the corner of the horse-gate eastward, [Are] holy to Jehovah, it is not plucked up, Nor is it thrown down any more to the age!
The entire valley, where the dead are buried and the trash is dumped, and all the fields from the Kidron Valley as far as the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the Lord. Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.
