Jeremiah 31:1-20

New American Standard Bible

Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy

31 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the ^(A)God of all the ^(B)families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²This is what the Lord says:
“The people who survived the sword
^(C)Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when it went to ^(D)find its rest.”
³The Lord appeared to ^[a]him ^[b]long ago, saying,
“I have ^(E)loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you out with ^(F)kindness.
⁴^(G)I will build you again and you will be rebuilt,
Virgin of Israel!
You will ^[c]take up your ^(H)tambourines again,
And go out to the dances of the ^(I)revelers.
⁵Again you will ^(J)plant vineyards
On the ^[d]hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will ^[e]enjoy the fruit.
⁶For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
‘Arise, and ^(K)let’s go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’”

⁷For this is what the Lord says:
“^(L)Sing aloud with joy for Jacob,
And be joyful with the ^[f]^(M)chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘Lord, ^(N)save Your people,
The ^(O)remnant of Israel!’
⁸Behold, I am ^(P)bringing them from the north country,
And I will ^(Q)gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them those who are ^(R)blind and those who ^(S)limp,
The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
They will return here as a great assembly.
⁹^(T)They will come with weeping,
And by pleading I will bring them;
I will lead them by ^(U)streams of waters,
On a straight path on which they will ^(V)not stumble;
For I am a ^(W)father to Israel,
And Ephraim is ^(X)My firstborn.”

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, you nations,
And declare it in the ^(Y)coastlands far away,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will ^(Z)gather him,
And He will keep him as a ^(AA)shepherd keeps his flock.”
¹¹For the Lord has ^(AB)ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was ^(AC)stronger than he.
¹²“They will ^(AD)come and shout for joy on the ^(AE)height of Zion,
And they will be ^(AF)radiant over the ^[g]bounty of the Lord—
Over the ^(AG)grain, the new wine, the oil,
And over the young of the ^(AH)flock and the herd.
And their life will be like a ^(AI)watered garden,
And they will ^(AJ)never languish again.
¹³Then the virgin will rejoice in the ^(AK)dance,
And the young men and the old together;
For I will ^(AL)turn their mourning into joy
And comfort them, and give them ^(AM)joy for their sorrow.
¹⁴I will refresh the soul of the priests with ^[h]abundance,
And My people will be ^(AN)satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:
“^(AO)A voice is heard in ^(AP)Ramah,
Lamenting and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She ^(AQ)refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because ^(AR)they are no more.”

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“^(AS)Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your ^(AT)work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,
“And they will ^(AU)return from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷There is ^(AV)hope for your future,” declares the Lord,
“And your children will return to their own territory.
¹⁸I have certainly heard Ephraim ^(AW)grieving,
‘You have ^(AX)disciplined me, and I was corrected,
Like an untrained ^(AY)calf;
^(AZ)Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
¹⁹For after I turned back, I ^(BA)repented;
And after I was instructed, I ^[i]^(BB)slapped my thigh;
I was ^(BC)ashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the shame of my youth.’
²⁰Is ^(BD)Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him;
Therefore My ^[j]^(BE)heart yearns for him;
I will certainly ^(BF)have mercy on him,” declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Lit me
Jeremiah 31:3 Or from far away
Jeremiah 31:4 Lit adorn yourself with
Jeremiah 31:5 Or mountains
Jeremiah 31:5 Lit defile
Jeremiah 31:7 Lit head
Jeremiah 31:12 Lit goodness
Jeremiah 31:14 Lit fatness
Jeremiah 31:19 I.e., in regret
Jeremiah 31:20 Lit inward parts

Acts 18:24-19:7

New American Standard Bible

²⁴Now a Jew named ^(A)Apollos, an ^(B)Alexandrian by birth, ^[a]an eloquent man, came to ^(C)Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures. ²⁵This man had been instructed in ^(D)the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with ^(E)the baptism of John; ²⁶and ^[b]he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when ^(F)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained ^(G)the way of God more accurately to him. ²⁷And when he wanted to go across to ^(H)Achaia, ^(I)the brothers encouraged him and wrote to ^(J)the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly ^[c]helped those who had believed through grace, ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating ^(K)by the Scriptures that ^(L)Jesus was the ^[d]Christ.

Paul in Ephesus

19 Now it happened that while ^(M)Apollos was in ^(N)Corinth, Paul passed through the ^(O)upper country and came to ^(P)Ephesus, and found some disciples. ²He said to them, “^(Q)Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, ^(R)we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” ³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “^(S)Into John’s baptism.” ⁴Paul said, “^(T)John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(U)to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵When they heard this, they were ^(V)baptized ^[e]in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had ^(W)laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began ^(X)speaking with tongues and ^(Y)prophesying. ⁷There were about twelve men in all.

Footnotes

Acts 18:24 Or a learned man
Acts 18:26 Lit this man
Acts 18:27 Or helped greatly through grace those who had believed
Acts 18:28 I.e., Messiah
Acts 19:5 Lit into

Jeremiah 31:23-40

New American Standard Bible

²³This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I ^(A)restore their fortunes,

‘The Lord bless you, O ^(B)place of righteousness,
O ^(C)holy hill!’

²⁴Judah and all its cities will ^(D)live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks. ²⁵^(E)For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and ^[a]refresh everyone who languishes.” ²⁶At this I ^(F)awoke and looked, and my ^(G)sleep had been pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

²⁷“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will ^(H)sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals. ²⁸And just as I have ^(I)watched over them to ^(J)uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to ^(K)build and to plant them,” declares the Lord.

²⁹“In those days they will no longer say,
‘^(L)The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
^[b]But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’

³⁰But ^(M)everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

³¹“^(N)Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a ^(O)new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²not like the ^(P)covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I ^(Q)took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^(R)covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. ³³“For ^(S)this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “^(T)I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and ^(U)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴They will ^(V)not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all ^(W)know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will ^(X)forgive their wrongdoing, and their ^(Y)sin I will no longer remember.”

³⁵This is what the Lord says,
He who ^(Z)gives the sun for light by day
And the ^[c]fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who ^(AA)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
^(AB)The Lord of armies is His name:
³⁶“^(AC)If ^[d]this fixed order departs
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the descendants of Israel also will ^(AD)cease
To be a nation before Me ^[e]forever.”
³⁷This is what the Lord says:
“^(AE)If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also ^(AF)reject all the descendants of Israel
For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord.

³⁸“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the ^(AG)city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the ^(AH)Tower of Hananel to the ^(AI)Corner Gate. ³⁹The ^(AJ)measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. ⁴⁰And ^(AK)the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook ^(AL)Kidron to the corner of the ^(AM)Horse Gate toward the east, shall be ^(AN)holy to the Lord; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:25 Lit fill
Jeremiah 31:29 I.e., the children suffer for the fathers’ sins
Jeremiah 31:35 Lit statutes
Jeremiah 31:36 Lit these statutes
Jeremiah 31:36 Lit all the days

Acts 19:8-20

New American Standard Bible

⁸And he entered ^(A)the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them ^(B)about the kingdom of God. ⁹But when ^(C)some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^[a]^(D)the Way before the ^[b]people, he withdrew from them and took ^(E)the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This took place for ^(F)two years, so that all who lived in ^[c]^(G)Asia heard ^(H)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles at Ephesus

¹¹God was performing ^(I)extraordinary ^[d]miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹²^(J)so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^(K)the evil spirits went out. ¹³But also some of the Jewish ^(L)exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to ^[e]use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴Now there were seven sons of ^[f]Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷This became known to all who lived in ^(M)Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. ¹⁸Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. ¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of ^[g]the books and found it to be fifty thousand ^[h]^(N)pieces of silver. ²⁰So ^[i]^(O)the word of the Lord ^(P)was growing and prevailing mightily.