Jeremiah 31:15-40

English Standard Version

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

¹⁶Thus 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 ^(E)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷^(F)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
¹⁸I have heard ^(G)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
^(H)bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹For after ^(I)I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, ^(J)I struck my thigh;
^(K)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
²⁰^(L)Is Ephraim my dear son?
    ^(M)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
^(N)Therefore my heart^[a] yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.

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

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, ^(T)when I restore their fortunes:

^(U)“‘The Lord bless you, ^(V)O habitation of righteousness,
^(W)O holy hill!’

²⁴^(X)And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^(Y)the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. ²⁵For I will ^(Z)satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

²⁷^(AA)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(AB)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^(AC)the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸And it shall come to pass that ^(AD)as I have watched over them ^(AE)to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^(AF)so I will watch over them ^(AG)to build and to plant, declares the Lord. ²⁹In those days they shall no longer say:

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

³⁰^(AI)But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

³¹^(AJ)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^(AK)a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when ^(AL)I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^(AM)though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³^(AN)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^(AO)I will put my law within them, and I will write it ^(AP)on their hearts. ^(AQ)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ ^(AR)for they shall all know me, ^(AS)from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^(AT)I will forgive their iniquity, and ^(AU)I will remember their sin no more.”

³⁵Thus says the Lord,
who ^(AV)gives the sun for light by day
    and ^(AW)the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    ^(AX)the Lord of hosts is his name:
³⁶^(AY)“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.”

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

³⁸^(BA)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ^(BB)from the Tower of Hananel to ^(BC)the Corner Gate. ³⁹^(BD)And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰^(BE)The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the ^(BF)brook Kidron, to the corner of ^(BG)the Horse Gate toward the east, ^(BH)shall be sacred to the Lord. ^(BI)It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:20 Hebrew bowels

Jeremiah 49:34-51:14

English Standard Version

Judgment on Elam

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning ^(A)Elam, in the beginning of the reign of ^(B)Zedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break ^(C)the bow of ^(D)Elam, the mainstay of their might. ³⁶And I will bring upon ^(E)Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of ^(F)Elam shall not come. ³⁷I will ^(G)terrify ^(H)Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, ^(I)my fierce anger, declares the Lord. ^(J)I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, ³⁸and I will set my throne in ^(K)Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.

³⁹“But in the latter days ^(L)I will restore the fortunes of ^(M)Elam, declares the Lord.”

Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning ^(N)Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, ^(O)by Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
^(P)‘Babylon is taken,
    ^(Q)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
^(R)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

³“For ^(S)out of the north a nation has come up against her, ^(T)which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; ^(U)both man and beast shall flee away.

⁴^(V)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(W)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, ^(X)weeping as they come, and they ^(Y)shall seek the Lord their God. ⁵^(Z)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, ^(AA)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an ^(AB)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

⁶^(AC)“My people have been lost sheep. ^(AD)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, ^(AE)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^(AF)they have sinned against the Lord, ^(AG)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^(AH)the hope of their fathers.’

⁸^(AI)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^(AJ)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^(AK)a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. ¹⁰^(AL)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹^(AM)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(AN)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
¹³^(AO)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(AP)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(AQ)and hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴^(AR)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(AS)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(AT)for she has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵^(AU)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(AV)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(AW)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(AX)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(AY)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(AZ)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷^(BA)“Israel is a hunted sheep ^(BB)driven away by lions. ^(BC)First the king of Assyria ^(BD)devoured him, and now at last ^(BE)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(BF)has gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, ^(BG)I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, ^(BH)as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹^(BI)I will restore Israel to his pasture, and ^(BJ)he shall feed on ^(BK)Carmel and in ^(BL)Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in ^(BM)Gilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(BN)iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for ^(BO)I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[a]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[b]
Kill, ^(BP)and devote them to destruction,^[c]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
²²^(BQ)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
²³^(BR)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(BS)How Babylon ^(BT)has become
    a horror among the nations!
²⁴^(BU)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(BV)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(BW)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(BX)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷Kill all ^(BY)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(BZ)the time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They ^(CA)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^(CB)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^(CC)his temple.

²⁹^(CD)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^(CE)Encamp around her; let no one escape. ^(CF)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^(CG)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰^(CH)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O ^(CI)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(CJ)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³²^(CK)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(CL)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CM)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(CN)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(CO)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(CP)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(CQ)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(CR)her officials and her ^(CS)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(CT)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(CU)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(CV)they may become women!
^(CW)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(CX)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(CY)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(CZ)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[d] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(DA)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(DB)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹^(DC)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(DD)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(DE)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(DF)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(DG)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(DH)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(DI)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

The Utter Destruction of Babylon

51 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up ^(DJ)the spirit of a destroyer
    against Babylon,
    against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,^[e]
²and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
    and ^(DK)they shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
    when they come against her from every side
    ^(DL)on the day of trouble.
³^(DM)Let not the archer bend his bow,
    and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
    ^(DN)devote to destruction^[f] all her army.
⁴They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
    ^(DO)and wounded in her streets.
⁵^(DP)For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
    by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans^[g] is full of guilt
    against the Holy One of Israel.

⁶^(DQ)“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
    let every one save his life!
^(DR)Be not cut off in her punishment,
    ^(DS)for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance,
    the repayment he is rendering her.
⁷Babylon was ^(DT)a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
    ^(DU)making all the earth drunken;
^(DV)the nations drank of her wine;
    therefore the nations went mad.
⁸^(DW)Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
    ^(DX)wail for her!
^(DY)Take balm for her pain;
    perhaps she may be healed.
⁹We would have healed Babylon,
    but she was not healed.
^(DZ)Forsake her, and ^(EA)let us go
    each to his own country,
for ^(EB)her judgment has reached up to heaven
    and has been lifted up even to the skies.
¹⁰^(EC)The Lord has brought about our vindication;
    ^(ED)come, let us declare in Zion
    the work of the Lord our God.

¹¹^(EE)“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!

^(EF)The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of ^(EG)the Medes, because ^(EH)his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, ^(EI)for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for ^(EJ)his temple.

¹²^(EK)“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
    ^(EL)make the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
    prepare the ambushes;
^(EM)for the Lord has both planned and done
    what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
¹³^(EN)O you who dwell by many waters,
    rich in treasures,
your end has come;
    the thread of your life is cut.
¹⁴^(EO)The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, ^(EP)as many as locusts,
    ^(EQ)and they shall raise the shout of victory over you.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon
Jeremiah 51:1 A code name for Chaldea
Jeremiah 51:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 51:5 Hebrew their land