Jeremiah 31
Lexham English Bible
31 “At that time,” declares[a] Yahweh,
“I will be the God of all the clans[b] of Israel,
and they will be to me a people.”
2 Thus says Yahweh:
“The people of the survivors of the sword found grace in the desert;[c]
Israel going to find their rest.”
3 From afar Yahweh appeared to me, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Therefore[d] I have drawn you with loyal love.
4 I will again build you,
and you will be built, O virgin Israel.
You will again adorn yourself with your tambourines,
and you will go forth in the dancing in a ring of the merrymakers.
5 You will again plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.
The planters will plant, and they will enjoy it.[e]
6 For there will be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Stand up, and let us go up to Zion, to Yahweh our God.’”
7 For thus says Yahweh,
“Sing for joy for Jacob with gladness,
and shout out for the head of the nations.
Proclaim, praise, and say,
‘Save, O Yahweh, your people, the remnant of Israel.’
8 Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth.
Among them the blind, and the lame,
those who are pregnant, and those who give birth,
together, a great assembly,
they will return here.
9 With weeping they will come,
and with pleas for mercy I will bring them;
I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path.
They will not stumble in it,
for I have become to Israel a father,
and Ephraim, he is my firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,
and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say,
“The scatterer of Israel will gather him,
and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.
11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
and he has redeemed him from the hand of the person stronger[f] than he.
12 And they will come,
and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion,
and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh,
over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil,
and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle.
And their life will become like a well-watered garden,
and they will never languish again.”
13 “Then the young woman will rejoice in the dancing in a ring,
and the young men and the old men together.
And I will turn their mourning to jubilation,
and I will comfort them,
and I will gladden them from their sorrow.
14 And I will saturate the appetite of the priests with fatness,
and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” declares[g] Yahweh.
15 Thus says Yahweh,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation, the weeping of bitterness.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted because of her children,
for they are no more.”
16 Thus says Yahweh:
“Restrain your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,” declares[h] Yahweh,
“and they will return from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope for your future,” declares[i] Yahweh,
“and your children will return to their territory.
18 Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves,
‘You disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like a calf that is not trained.
Bring me back and let me return,
for you are Yahweh my God.
19 For after my turning back I repented,
and after coming to understand I struck my thigh.
I was ashamed and also humiliated,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son,
or the child of my delight?
For as often as[j] I have earnestly spoken against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore[k] my bowels are turbulent for him,
surely I will have compassion on him,” declares[l] Yahweh.
21 “Set up for yourself road markers,
make for yourself signposts,
set your mind[m] to the main road,
the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin of Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 How long[n] will you waver, O unfaithful daughter?
For Yahweh has created a new thing on the earth,
a woman, she shelters a man.”
23 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “They will again say these words[o] in the land of Judah and in its towns at my restoring their fortunes,[p]
‘Yahweh bless you, O settlement of righteousness,
O hill of holiness.’
24 And Judah and all of its towns together will live in it,
farmers and those who travel with the flocks.[q]
25 For I will saturate the thirst of the weary,
and every person who languishes I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked,
and my sleep was pleasant to me.
The New Covenant
27 “Look, the days are coming,” declares[r] Yahweh, “and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humankind, and with the seed of animals.[s] 28 And then[t] as I have watched over them to pull up, and to tear down, and to annihilate, and to destroy, and to do evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares[u] Yahweh. 29 “In those days they will say no longer, ‘Parents[v] have eaten unripe fruit, and the teeth of the children are set on edge[w].’ 30 But[x] each will die because of his iniquity, everyone[y] who eats the unripe fruit, their teeth will be set on edge.[z]
31 Look, the days are coming,” declares[aa] Yahweh, “and I will make[ab] a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made[ac] with their ancestors[ad] on the day of my grasping them[ae] by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them,” declares[af] Yahweh. 33 “But this is the covenant that I will make[ag] with the house of Israel after those days,” declares[ah] Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts[ai] I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. 34 And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, saying,[aj] ‘Know Yahweh,’ for all of them will know me, from their smallest[ak] and up to their greatest,”[al] declares[am] Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember.”
35 Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, the regulations of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar—Yahweh of hosts is his name. 36 “If these rules would cease from before me,”[an] declares[ao] Yahweh, “also the offspring of Israel would cease from being a nation before me[ap] forever.”[aq] 37 Thus says Yahweh, “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, also I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all that they have done,” declares[ar] Yahweh. 38 “Look, days are coming,” declares[as] Yahweh, “and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 And the measuring line[at] will still go out immediately in front of it to the hill of Gareb, and it will turn to Goah. 40 And the whole of the valley of the corpses, and the ashes, and all the cultivated fields up to the wadi of Kidron, up to the corner of the Gate of the Horses toward the east will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted, and it will not be overthrown again forever.”[au]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 31:1 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:1 Or “families”
- Jeremiah 31:2 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 31:3 Literally “Unto thus”
- Jeremiah 31:5 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 31:11 Literally “strong”
- Jeremiah 31:14 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:16 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:17 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:20 Literally “from enough”
- Jeremiah 31:20 Literally “Unto thus”
- Jeremiah 31:20 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:21 Literally “heart”
- Jeremiah 31:22 Literally “Until when”
- Jeremiah 31:23 Hebrew “word”
- Jeremiah 31:23 Hebrew “fortune”
- Jeremiah 31:24 Hebrew “flock”
- Jeremiah 31:27 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:27 Hebrew “animal”
- Jeremiah 31:28 Literally “And it will happen”
- Jeremiah 31:28 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:29 Literally “Fathers”
- Jeremiah 31:29 Literally “have become blunt”
- Jeremiah 31:30 Literally “But if”
- Jeremiah 31:30 Literally “all of the humankind”
- Jeremiah 31:30 Literally “become blunt”
- Jeremiah 31:31 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:31 Literally “cut”
- Jeremiah 31:32 Literally “cut”
- Jeremiah 31:32 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 31:32 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 31:32 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:33 Literally “cut”
- Jeremiah 31:33 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:33 Hebrew “heart”
- Jeremiah 31:34 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 31:34 Literally “small”
- Jeremiah 31:34 Literally “great”
- Jeremiah 31:34 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:36 Literally “to the face of me”
- Jeremiah 31:36 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:36 Literally “to the face of me”
- Jeremiah 31:36 Literally “all the days”
- Jeremiah 31:37 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:38 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 31:39 Literally “the string of the measurement”
- Jeremiah 31:40 Literally “to eternity”
Jeremiah 31
English Standard Version
The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy
31 (A)“At that time, declares the Lord, (B)I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
(C)when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him[a] from far away.
(D)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore (E)I have continued (F)my faithfulness to you.
4 (G)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
(H)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in (I)the dance of the merrymakers.
5 (J)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 (K)the hill country of Ephraim:
(L)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord:
(M)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for (N)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
(O)‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them (P)from the north country
and (Q)gather them from (R)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them (S)the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 (T)With weeping they shall come,
(U)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them (V)walk by brooks of water,
(W)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for (X)I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is (Y)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 (Z)gather him,
and will keep him (AA)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 (AB)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from (AC)hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
(AD)and they shall be radiant (AE)over the goodness of the Lord,
(AF)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
(AG)their life shall be like a watered garden,
(AH)and they shall languish no more.
13 (AI)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
(AJ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 (AK)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:
(AL)“A voice is heard in (AM)Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
(AN)Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
(AO)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 (AP)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 (AQ)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
18 I have heard (AR)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like an untrained calf;
(AS)bring me back that I may be restored,
for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after (AT)I had turned away, I relented,
and after I was instructed, (AU)I struck my thigh;
(AV)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 (AW)Is Ephraim my dear son?
(AX)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
(AY)Therefore my heart[b] yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.
21 (AZ)“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
(BA)consider well the highway,
(BB)the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 (BC)How long will you waver,
(BD)O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman encircles a man.”
23 Thus 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, (BE)when I restore their fortunes:
24 (BI)And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and (BJ)the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will (BK)satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27 (BL)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when (BM)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with (BN)the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that (BO)as I have watched over them (BP)to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, (BQ)so I will watch over them (BR)to build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:
(BS)“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.’
30 (BT)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 (BU)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make (BV)a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when (BW)I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, (BX)though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 (BY)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: (BZ)I will put my law within them, and I will write it (CA)on their hearts. (CB)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ (CC)for they shall all know me, (CD)from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For (CE)I will forgive their iniquity, and (CF)I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord,
who (CG)gives the sun for light by day
and (CH)the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
(CI)the Lord of hosts is his name:
36 (CJ)“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,
(CK)then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”
38 (CL)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord (CM)from the Tower of Hananel to (CN)the Corner Gate. 39 (CO)And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 (CP)The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the (CQ)brook Kidron, to the corner of (CR)the Horse Gate toward the east, (CS)shall be sacred to the Lord. (CT)It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 31:3 Septuagint; Hebrew me
- Jeremiah 31:20 Hebrew bowels
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