Jeremiah 30-31

English Standard Version

⁵ “Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
    of terror, and no peace.
⁶ Ask now, and see,
    can a man bear a child?
^(H)Why then do I see every man
    with his hands on his stomach ^(I)like a woman in labor?
    ^(J)Why has every face turned pale?
⁷ Alas! ^(K)That day is so great
    ^(L)there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
    yet he shall be saved out of it.

^10 (R)“Then fear not, ^(S)O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, ^(T)I will save you from far away,
    ^(U)and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
^(V)Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
^11 (W)For I am with you to save you,
declares the Lord;
^(X)I will make a full end of all the nations
    among whom I scattered you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
^(Y)I will ^(Z)discipline you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹² “For thus says the Lord:
^(AA)Your hurt is incurable,
    ^(AB)and your wound is grievous.
¹³ There is none to uphold your cause,
    no medicine for your wound,
    ^(AC)no healing for you.
^14 (AD)All your lovers have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of ^(AE)an enemy,
    the punishment ^(AF)of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
    ^(AG)because your sins are flagrant.
^15 (AH)Why do you cry out over your hurt?
    ^(AI)Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
    ^(AJ)because your sins are flagrant,
    I have done these things to you.
^16 (AK)Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
    and ^(AL)all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
^(AM)those who plunder you shall be plundered,
    ^(AN)and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
^17 (AO)For I will restore ^(AP)health to you,
    and ^(AQ)your wounds I will heal,
declares the Lord,
because ^(AR)they have called you an outcast:
    ^(AS)‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

¹⁸ “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, ^(AT)I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
    and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on ^(AU)its mound,
    and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
^19 (AV)Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
    and the voices of those who celebrate.
^(AW)I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
    I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
^20 (AX)Their children shall be as they were of old,
    and their congregation shall be established before me,
    and I will punish all who oppress them.
^21 (AY)Their prince shall be one of themselves;
    ^(AZ)their ruler shall come out from their midst;
^(BA)I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
    ^(BB)for who would dare of himself to approach me?
declares the Lord.
^22 (BC)And you shall be my people,
    and I will be your God.”

^23 (BD)Behold ^(BE)the storm of the Lord!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
^24 (BF)The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intentions of his mind.
^(BG)In the latter days you will understand this.

² Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
^(BJ)when Israel sought for rest,
³     the Lord appeared to him^[b] from far away.
^(BK)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore ^(BL)I have continued ^(BM)my faithfulness to you.
^4 (BN)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
^(BO)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in ^(BP)the dance of the merrymakers.
^5 (BQ)Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶ For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in ^(BR)the hill country of Ephraim:
^(BS)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷ For thus says the Lord:
^(BT)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for ^(BU)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ^(BV)‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ Behold, I will bring them ^(BW)from the north country
    and ^(BX)gather them from ^(BY)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^(BZ)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
^9 (CA)With weeping they shall come,
    ^(CB)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^(CC)walk by brooks of water,
    ^(CD)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^(CE)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is ^(CF)my firstborn.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^(CG)gather him,
    and will keep him ^(CH)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
^11 (CI)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from ^(CJ)hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    ^(CK)and they shall be radiant ^(CL)over the goodness of the Lord,
^(CM)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^(CN)their life shall be like a watered garden,
    ^(CO)and they shall languish no more.
^13 (CP)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^(CQ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
^14 (CR)I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord:
^(CS)“A voice is heard in ^(CT)Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
^(CU)Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    ^(CV)because they are no more.”

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
    and ^(CW)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
^17 (CX)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
¹⁸ I have heard ^(CY)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
^(CZ)bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ For after ^(DA)I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, ^(DB)I struck my thigh;
^(DC)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
^20 (DD)Is Ephraim my dear son?
    ^(DE)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
^(DF)Therefore my heart^[c] yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.

^21 (DG)“Set up road markers for yourself;
    make yourself guideposts;
^(DH)consider well the highway,
    ^(DI)the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
    return to these your cities.
^22 (DJ)How long will you waver,
    ^(DK)O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
    a woman encircles a man.”

^(DM)“‘The Lord bless you, ^(DN)O habitation of righteousness,
    ^(DO)O holy hill!’

^(DZ)“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
    and the children's teeth are set on edge.’

³⁵ Thus says the Lord,
who ^(EN)gives the sun for light by day
    and ^(EO)the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    ^(EP)the Lord of hosts is his name:
^36 (EQ)“If this fixed order departs
    from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
    from being a nation before me forever.”

³⁷ Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
    and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
^(ER)then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
    for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”