Jérémie 31
Louis Segond
31 En ce temps-là, dit l'Éternel, Je serai le Dieu de toutes les familles d'Israël, Et ils seront mon peuple.
2 Ainsi parle l'Éternel: Il a trouvé grâce dans le désert, Le peuple de ceux qui ont échappé au glaive; Israël marche vers son lieu de repos.
3 De loin l'Éternel se montre à moi: Je t'aime d'un amour éternel; C'est pourquoi je te conserve ma bonté.
4 Je te rétablirai encore, et tu seras rétablie, Vierge d'Israël! Tu auras encore tes tambourins pour parure, Et tu sortiras au milieu des danses joyeuses.
5 Tu planteras encore des vignes sur les montagnes de Samarie; Les planteurs planteront, et cueilleront les fruits.
6 Car le jour vient où les gardes crieront sur la montagne d'Éphraïm:
7 Levez-vous, montons à Sion, vers l'Éternel, notre Dieu! Car ainsi parle l'Éternel: Poussez des cris de joie sur Jacob, Éclatez d'allégresse à la tête des nations! Élevez vos voix, chantez des louanges, et dites: Éternel, délivre ton peuple, le reste d'Israël!
8 Voici, je les ramène du pays du septentrion, Je les rassemble des extrémités de la terre; Parmi eux sont l'aveugle et le boiteux, La femme enceinte et celle en travail; C'est une grande multitude, qui revient ici.
9 Ils viennent en pleurant, et je les conduis au milieu de leurs supplications; Je les mène vers des torrents d'eau, Par un chemin uni où ils ne chancellent pas; Car je suis un père pour Israël, Et Éphraïm est mon premier-né.
10 Nations, écoutez la parole de l'Éternel, Et publiez-la dans les îles lointaines! Dites: Celui qui a dispersé Israël le rassemblera, Et il le gardera comme le berger garde son troupeau.
11 Car l'Éternel rachète Jacob, Il le délivre de la main d'un plus fort que lui.
12 Ils viendront, et pousseront des cris de joie sur les hauteurs de Sion; Ils accourront vers les biens de l'Éternel, Le blé, le moût, l'huile, Les brebis et les boeufs; Leur âne sera comme un jardin arrosé, Et ils ne seront plus dans la souffrance.
13 Alors les jeunes filles se réjouiront à la danse, Les jeunes hommes et les vieillards se réjouiront aussi; Je changerai leur deuil en allégresse, et je les consolerai; Je leur donnerai de la joie après leurs chagrins.
14 Je rassasierai de graisse l'âme des sacrificateurs, Et mon peuple se rassasiera de mes biens, dit l'Éternel.
15 Ainsi parle l'Éternel: On entend des cris à Rama, Des lamentations, des larmes amères; Rachel pleure ses enfants; Elle refuse d'être consolée sur ses enfants, Car ils ne sont plus.
16 Ainsi parle l'Éternel: Retiens tes pleurs, Retiens les larmes de tes yeux; Car il y aura un salaire pour tes oeuvres, dit l'Éternel; Ils reviendront du pays de l'ennemi.
17 Il y a de l'espérance pour ton avenir, dit l'Éternel; Tes enfants reviendront dans leur territoire.
18 J'entends Éphraïm qui se lamente: Tu m'as châtié, et j'ai été châtié Comme un veau qui n'est pas dompté; Fais-moi revenir, et je reviendrai, Car tu es l'Éternel, mon Dieu.
19 Après m'être détourné, j'éprouve du repentir; Et après avoir reconnu mes fautes, je frappe sur ma cuisse; Je suis honteux et confus, Car je porte l'opprobre de ma jeunesse. -
20 Éphraïm est-il donc pour moi un fils chéri, Un enfant qui fait mes délices? Car plus je parle de lui, plus encore son souvenir est en moi; Aussi mes entrailles sont émues en sa faveur: J'aurai pitié de lui, dit l'Éternel. -
21 Dresse des signes, place des poteaux, Prends garde à la route, au chemin que tu as suivi... Reviens, vierge d'Israël, Reviens dans ces villes qui sont à toi!
22 Jusques à quand seras-tu errante, Fille égarée? Car l'Éternel crée une chose nouvelle sur la terre: La femme recherchera l'homme.
23 Ainsi parle l'Éternel des armées, le Dieu d'Israël: Voici encore ce que l'on dira dans le pays de Juda et dans ses villes, Quand j'aurai ramené leurs captifs: Que l'Éternel te bénisse, demeure de la justice, Montagne sainte!
24 Là s'établiront Juda et toutes ses villes, Les laboureurs et ceux qui conduisent les troupeaux.
25 Car je rafraîchirai l'âme altérée, Et je rassasierai toute âme languissante.
26 Là-dessus je me suis réveillé, et j'ai regardé; Mon sommeil m'avait été agréable.
27 Voici, les jours viennent, dit l'Éternel, Où j'ensemencerai la maison d'Israël et la maison de Juda D'une semence d'hommes et d'une semence de bêtes.
28 Et comme j'ai veillé sur eux Pour arracher, abattre, détruire, ruiner et faire du mal, Ainsi je veillerai sur eux pour bâtir et pour planter, Dit l'Éternel.
29 En ces jours-là, on ne dira plus: Les pères ont mangé des raisins verts, Et les dents des enfants en ont été agacées.
30 Mais chacun mourra pour sa propre iniquité; Tout homme qui mangera des raisins verts, Ses dents en seront agacées.
31 Voici, les jours viennent, dit l'Éternel, Où je ferai avec la maison d'Israël et la maison de Juda Une alliance nouvelle,
32 Non comme l'alliance que je traitai avec leurs pères, Le jour où je les saisis par la main Pour les faire sortir du pays d'Égypte, Alliance qu'ils ont violée, Quoique je fusse leur maître, dit l'Éternel.
33 Mais voici l'alliance que je ferai avec la maison d'Israël, Après ces jours-là, dit l'Éternel: Je mettrai ma loi au dedans d'eux, Je l'écrirai dans leur coeur; Et je serai leur Dieu, Et ils seront mon peuple.
34 Celui-ci n'enseignera plus son prochain, Ni celui-là son frère, en disant: Connaissez l'Éternel! Car tous me connaîtront, Depuis le plus petit jusqu'au plus grand, dit l'Éternel; Car je pardonnerai leur iniquité, Et je ne me souviendrai plus de leur péché.
35 Ainsi parle l'Éternel, qui a fait le soleil pour éclairer le jour, Qui a destiné la lune et les étoiles à éclairer la nuit, Qui soulève la mer et fait mugir ses flots, Lui dont le nom est l'Éternel des armées:
36 Si ces lois viennent à cesser devant moi, dit l'Éternel, La race d'Israël aussi cessera pour toujours d'être une nation devant moi.
37 Ainsi parle l'Éternel: Si les cieux en haut peuvent être mesurés, Si les fondements de la terre en bas peuvent être sondés, Alors je rejetterai toute la race d'Israël, A cause de tout ce qu'ils ont fait, dit l'Éternel.
38 Voici, les jours viennent, dit l'Éternel, Où la ville sera rebâtie à l'honneur de l'Éternel, Depuis la tour de Hananeel jusqu'à la porte de l'angle.
39 Le cordeau s'étendra encore vis-à-vis, Jusqu'à la colline de Gareb, Et fera un circuit du côté de Goath.
40 Toute la vallée des cadavres et de la cendre, Et tous les champs jusqu'au torrent de Cédron, Jusqu'à l'angle de la porte des chevaux à l'orient, Seront consacrés à l'Éternel, Et ne seront plus à jamais ni renversés ni détruits.
Jeremiah 31
Names of God Bible
Both Israel and Judah Will Be Rescued
31 “At that time,” declares Yahweh, “I will be the Elohim of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
2 This is what Yahweh says:
The people who survived the wars have found favor in the desert.
Israel went to find its rest.
3 Yahweh appeared to me in a faraway place and said,
“I love you with an everlasting love.
So I will continue to show you my kindness.
4 Once again I will build you up,
and you will be rebuilt, my dear people Israel.
Once again you will take your tambourines,
and you will go dancing with happy people.
5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.
Those who plant them will enjoy the fruit.
6 There will be a day when watchmen on the mountains of Ephraim
will call out this message:
‘Arise! Let’s go to Zion, to Yahweh our Elohim.’”
7 This is what Yahweh says:
Sing a happy song about Jacob.
Sing joyfully for the leader of the nations.
Shout, sing praise, and say,
“O Yahweh, rescue your people, the remaining few from Israel.”
8 “I will bring them from the land of the north.
I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth.
Blind people and lame people will return
together with pregnant women and those in labor.
A large crowd will return here.
9 They will cry as they return.
They will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams
on a level path where they will not stumble.
I will be an Ab to Israel,
and Ephraim will be my firstborn.
10 “You nations, listen to the word of Yahweh.
Tell it to the distant islands.
Say, ‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will gather them
and watch over them as a shepherd watches over his flock.’
11 Yahweh will free the descendants of Jacob
and reclaim them from those who are stronger than they are.
12 They will come and shout for joy on top of Mount Zion.
They will stream to it to enjoy Yahweh’s blessings:
fresh grain, new wine, and olive oil, lambs and calves.
Their lives will be like well-watered gardens,
and they will never suffer again.
13 Then young women will rejoice and dance
along with young men and old men.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them.
I will give them joy in place of their sorrow.
14 I will satisfy the priests with rich food.
My people will be filled with my blessings,” declares Yahweh.
15 This is what Yahweh says:
A sound is heard in Ramah,
the sound of crying in bitter grief.
Rachel is crying for her children.
She refuses to be comforted,
because they are dead.
16 This is what Yahweh says:
Stop your crying, and wipe away your tears.
You will be rewarded for your work, declares Yahweh.
You will return from the land of the enemy.
17 Your future is filled with hope, declares Yahweh.
Your children will return to their own territory.
18 “I have certainly heard Ephraim mourn and say,
‘You disciplined me, and I was disciplined.
I was like a young, untrained calf.
Turn me, and I will be turned,
because you are Yahweh my Elohim.
19 After I was turned around, I changed the way I thought and acted.
After I was taught a lesson, I hung my head in shame.
I was so ashamed and humiliated,
because of all the stupid things I have done
ever since I was young.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child?
Even though I have often spoken against him, I still think fondly of him.
That is why my heart longs for him,
and I will certainly have compassion on him,” declares Yahweh.
21 Set up landmarks!
Put up road signs!
Remember the highway, the road on which you traveled.
Come back, my dear people Israel, come back to your cities.
22 How long will you wander around, you unfaithful people?
Yahweh will create something new on earth:
A woman will protect a man.
23 This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: When I have brought them back from captivity, they will once again use this saying in Judah and in its cities:
“Yahweh bless you, home of righteousness, holy mountain.
24 Judah and all its cities will live there together.
Farmers and shepherds will also live there.
25 I will give those who are weary all they need.
I will refresh everyone who is filled with sorrow.”
26 At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant.
27 “The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will plant the nations of Israel and Judah with people and animals. 28 Once I watched over them to uproot them, to tear them down, and to wreck, ruin, and hurt them. Now I will watch over them to build them up and to plant them,” declares Yahweh. 29 “When those days come, people will no longer say, ‘Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30 But each person will die for his own sin. Whoever eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge.
The New Promise
31 “The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will make a new promise[a] to Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. 33 “But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know Yahweh.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares Yahweh, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.”
35 Yahweh provides the sun to be a light during the day.
He orders the moon and stars to be lights during the night.
He stirs up the sea so that its waves roar.
His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth.
This is what Yahweh says:
36 Only if these laws stop working, declares Yahweh,
will Israel’s descendants stop being a nation in my presence.
37 This is what Yahweh says:
Only if the heavens could be measured
or the foundations of the earth could be searched,
would I ever reject all of Israel’s descendants
because of everything that they have done, declares Yahweh.
38 “The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh from the Tower of Hananel to Corner Gate. 39 A measuring line will stretch from there straight to the Hill of Gareb, and then it will turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley, filled with its dead bodies and ashes, and the whole area to the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of Horse Gate in the east, will be holy to Yahweh. It will never be uprooted or torn down again.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 31:31 Or “covenant.”
Jeremiah 31
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Lord’s Love for Israel
31 At that time, declares the Lord,
I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they will be my people.
2 This is what the Lord says.
The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness.
Israel had continual rest.
3 The Lord appeared to me[a] from a distance, saying:
I have loved you with an everlasting love.
I have drawn you with mercy.
4 I will build you up again,
and you will be built up, O Virgin Israel.
You will pick up your drums again,
and you will go out to dance with those who are joyful.
5 Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.
The planters will plant and will enjoy its fruit.
6 For there will be a day
when the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry out,
“Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.”
7 This is what the Lord says.
Sing with joy for Jacob,
and shout for the greatest of the nations.
Make your praises heard and say,
“Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel!”
8 Watch, I will bring them from a land in the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
The blind and the lame will be there,
the pregnant woman together with the woman in labor.
They will return as a huge community.
9 They will come weeping.
They will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water,
on a level path where they will not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel.
Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the Lord, you nations.
Declare it in the distant islands.
Say that he who scattered Israel will gather him
and watch over him like a shepherd watching his flock.
11 For the Lord will ransom Jacob
and redeem him from the hand of the one who is stronger than him.
12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion,
and they will rejoice in the goodness of the Lord,
for the grain, the new wine, the oil,
and the young of the flocks and herds.
Their lives will thrive like a well-watered garden.
They will not grow weak anymore.
13 Then the virgin will rejoice and dance.
The young men and the old will be glad together,
for I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them
and give them joy instead of sorrow.
14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my goodness,
declares the Lord.
15 This is what the Lord says.
A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel is weeping for her children.
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
16 This is what the Lord says.
Stop your crying.
Do not shed tears,
because your work will be rewarded, declares the Lord.
They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future, declares the Lord.
Your children will return to their own borders.
Interjection by Israel
18 I have certainly heard Ephraim grieving:
“You have disciplined me.
I was disciplined like an untrained calf.
Cause me to turn, and I will turn,
because you are the Lord my God.
19 After I turned away, I was sorry.
After I was instructed, I slapped my thigh in grief.
I was ashamed and humiliated,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”
The Lord Speaks Again
20 Isn’t Ephraim my dear son?
Isn’t he my darling child?
I often speak against him,
but I still remember him.
My heart longs for him.
I will certainly be compassionate to him, declares the Lord.
21 Set up road signs.
Make guideposts.
Direct your attention toward the highway,
toward the way by which you came.
Turn back, Virgin Israel.
Turn back to your cities.
22 How long will you turn away,
you unfaithful daughter?
The Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
A female will surround a man.[b]
God’s People Will Prosper Once Again
23 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.
When I bring them back from captivity,
they will once again say in the land of Judah and in its cities:
“The Lord bless you, you righteous dwelling place,
you holy mountain.”
24 Judah and all its cities will live there together,
the farmers and those who follow their flocks.
25 I will satisfy the thirsty,
and I will give rest to everyone who is weary.
26 Just after this I woke up and looked around.
My sleep had been pleasant for me.
27 Look, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of animal. 28 Just as I have watched over them to uproot and to tear down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord.
29 In those days they will no longer say,
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30 But everyone will die for his own guilt.
Everyone who eats sour grapes—
his own teeth will be set on edge.
The New Covenant
31 Yes, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers,
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They broke that covenant of mine,
although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.
33 But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after those days,
declares the Lord.
I will put my law[c] in their minds,
and I will write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will each one teach his neighbor,
or each one teach his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord,
for I will forgive their guilt,
and I will remember their sins no more.
35 This is what the Lord says,
the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day,
who regulates the moon and stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar,
whose name is the Lord of Armies:
36 Only if these ordinances could vanish from my sight,
only then could the seed of Israel cease to be a nation before me,
declares the Lord.
37 This is what the Lord says:
Only if someone could measure what is above the sky,
only if someone could explore what is below the foundations
of the earth,
only then would I reject all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done, declares the Lord.
38 Look, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will stretch from there straight out to the Hill of Gareb and turn toward Goah. 40 The whole valley with the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, will be holy to the Lord. It will not be uprooted or torn down ever again.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 31:3 The Greek Old Testament reads him.
- Jeremiah 31:22 Or will embrace a man or will shelter a man. The church fathers understood this as an allusion to the virgin birth, but in the context it seems to refer to Judah’s future faithfulness to her husband, the Lord.
- Jeremiah 31:33 The term law here refers to the whole word of God. As verse 34 demonstrates, here the term law does not refer to the natural knowledge of the law written in our hearts, but rather to our knowledge of the gospel.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.