Jeremiæ 31
1 In tempore illo, dicit Dominus: Ero Deus universis cognationibus Israel, et ipsi erunt mihi in populum.
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.
2 Hæc dicit Dominus: Invenit gratiam in deserto populus, qui remanserat a gladio: vadet ad requiem suam Israel.
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.
3 Longe Dominus apparuit mihi. Et in charitate perpetua dilexi te, ideo attraxi te, miserans.
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.’
4 Rursumque ædificabo te, et ædificaberis virgo Israel: adhuc ornaberis tympanis tuis, et egredieris in choro ludentium.
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.
5 Adhuc plantabis vineas in montibus Samariæ: plantabunt plantantes, et donec tempus veniat, non vindemiabunt:
Again you will plant your vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and you will eat the grapes [that grow there].
6 quia erit dies, in qua clamabunt custodes in monte Ephraim: Surgite, et ascendamus in Sion ad Dominum Deum nostrum.
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!'”
7 Quia hæc dicit Dominus: Exultate in lætitia Iacob, et hinnite contra caput Gentium: personate, et canite, et dicite: Salva Domine populum tuum reliquias Israel.
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!’
8 Ecce ego adducam eos de terra Aquilonis, et congregabo eos ab extremis terræ: inter quos erunt cæcus et claudus, prægnans et pariens simul, cœtus magnus revertentium huc.
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!
9 In fletu venient: et in misericordia reducam eos: et adducam eos per torrentes aquarum in via recta, et non impingent in ea: quia factus sum Israeli Pater, et Ephraim primogenitus meus est.
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.”
10 Audite verbum Domini Gentes, et annunciate in insulis, quæ procul sunt, et dicite: Qui dispersit Israel, congregabit eum: et custodiet eum sicut pastor gregem suum.
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.
11 Redemit enim Dominus Iacob, et liberavit eum de manu potentioris.
I will buy [my] Israeli people back from those who [conquered them because] they were more powerful [than my people].
12 Et venient, et laudabunt in monte Sion: et confluent ad bona Domini super frumento, et vino, et oleo, et fœtu pecorum et armentorum: eritque anima eorum quasi hortus irriguus, et ultra non esurient.
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.
13 Tunc lætabitur virgo in choro, iuvenes et senes simul: et convertam luctum eorum in gaudium, et consolabor eos, et lætificabo a dolore suo.
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.
14 Et inebriabo animam sacerdotum pinguedine: et populus meus bonis meis adimplebitur, ait Dominus.
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!”
15 Hæc dicit Dominus: Vox in excelso audita est lamentationis, luctus, et fletus Rachel plorantis filios suos, et nolentis consolari super eis, quia non sunt.
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.
16 Hæc dicit Dominus: Quiescat vox tua a ploratu, et oculi tui a lacrymis: quia est merces operi tuo, ait Dominus: et revertentur de terra inimici.
[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].
17 Et est spes novissimis tuis, ait Dominus: et revertentur filii ad terminos suos.
[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.’
18 Audiens audivi Ephraim transmigrantem: Castigasti me, et eruditus sum, quasi iuvenculus indomitus: converte me, et convertar: quia tu Dominus Deus meus.
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.
19 Postquam enim convertisti me, egi pœnitentiam: et postquam ostendisti mihi, percussi femur meum. Confusus sum, et erubui, quoniam sustinui opprobrium adolescentiæ meæ.
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.’
20 Si filius honorabilis mihi Ephraim, si puer delicatus: quia ex quo locutus sum de eo, adhuc recordabor eius. Idcirco conturbata sunt viscera mea super eum: miserans miserebor eius, ait Dominus.
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.
21 Statue tibi speculam, pone tibi amaritudines: dirige cor tuum in viam rectam, in qua ambulasti: revertere virgo Israel, revertere ad civitates tuas istas.
[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.
22 Usquequo deliciis dissolveris filia vaga? Quia creavit Dominus novum super terram: femina circumdabit virum.
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]!”
23 Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israel: Adhuc dicent verbum istud in terra Iuda, et in urbibus eius, cum convertero captivitatem eorum: Benedicat tibi Dominus pulchritudo iustitiæ, mons sanctus:
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]!’
24 et habitabunt in eo Iudas, et omnes civitates eius simul: agricolæ et minantes greges.
[The people of] Judah [who live in] the towns, including the farmers and the shepherds, will all live together [peacefully].
25 Quia inebriavi animam lassam, et omnem animam esurientem saturavi.
I will enable weary people to rest, and enable people who are very exhausted to become strong again.”
26 Ideo quasi de somno suscitatus sum: et vidi, et somnus meus dulcis mihi.
I, [Jeremiah], woke up [after dreaming all those things], and I looked [around]. I had slept [very] delightfully!
27 Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus: et seminabo domum Israel et domum Iuda semine hominum, et semine iumentorum.
[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.
28 Et sicut vigilavi super eos ut evellerem, et demolirer, et dissiparem, et disperderem, et affligerem: sic vigilabo super eos ut ædificem, et plantem, ait Dominus.
[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.
29 In diebus illis non dicent ultra: Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt.
[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.
30 Sed unusquisque in iniquitate sua morietur: omnis homo, qui comederit uvam acerbam, obstupescent dentes eius.
But now all people will die because of the sins that they themselves have committed.
31 Ecce dies venient, dicit Dominus: et feriam domui Israel et domui Iuda fœdus novum:
[I], Yahweh, say this: ‘There will be a time when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
32 non secundum pactum, quod pepigi cum patribus eorum in die, qua apprehendi manum eorum, ut educerem eos de Terra Ægypti: pactum, quod irritum fecerunt, et ego dominatus sum eorum, dicit Dominus.
[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.’
33 Sed hoc erit pactum, quod feriam cum domo Israel: post dies illos dicit Dominus: Dabo legem meam in visceribus eorum, et in corde eorum scribam eam: et ero eis in Deum, et ipsi erunt mihi in populum.
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.
34 Et non docebit ultra vir proximum suum, et vir fratrem suum, dicens: Cognosce Dominum: omnes enim cognoscent me a minimo eorum usque ad maximum, ait Dominus: quia propitiabor iniquitati eorum, et peccati eorum non memorabor amplius.
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.’”
35 Hæc dicit Dominus, qui dat solem in lumine diei, ordinem lunæ et stellarum in lumine noctis: qui turbat mare, et sonant fluctus eius, Dominus exercituum nomen illi.
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:
36 Si defecerint leges istæ coram me, dicit Dominus: tunc et semen Israel deficiet, ut non sit gens coram me cunctis diebus.
“I will not reject my Israeli people any more than I will get rid of the laws [that control the universe].
37 Hæc dicit Dominus: Si mensurari potuerint cæli sursum, et investigari fundamenta terræ deorsum: et ego abiiciam universum semen Israel propter omnia, quæ fecerunt, dicit Dominus.
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!
38 Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus: et ædificabitur civitas Domino a turre Hananeel usque ad portam anguli.
[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.
39 Et exibit ultra norma mensuræ in conspectu eius super collem Gareb: et circuibit Goatha,
[Workers] will stretch a measuring line/string over Gareb Hill all the way [southwest] to Goah.
40 et omnem vallem cadaverum, et cineris, et universam regionem mortis, usque ad torrentem Cedron, et usque ad angulum portæ equorum Orientalis, Sanctum Domini: non evelletur, et non destruetur ultra in perpetuum.
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.”
