Add parallel Print Page Options

31 “At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”

Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying,

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
    Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
I will build you again,
    and you will be built, O virgin of Israel.
You will again be adorned with your tambourines,
    and will go out in the dances of those who make merry.
Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.
    The planters will plant,
    and will enjoy its fruit.
For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry,
    ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’”

For Yahweh says,

“Sing with gladness for Jacob,
    and shout for the chief of the nations.
Publish, praise, and say,
    ‘Yahweh, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel!’
Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
    and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth,
along with the blind and the lame,
    the woman with child and her who travails with child together.
    They will return as a great company.
They will come with weeping.
    I will lead them with petitions.
I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters,
    in a straight way in which they won’t stumble;
for I am a father to Israel.
    Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations,
    and declare it in the distant islands. Say,
‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
    and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’
11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
    and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12 They will come and sing in the height of Zion,
    and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh,
to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil,
    and to the young of the flock and of the herd.
Their soul will be as a watered garden.
    They will not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance;
    the young men and the old together;
for I will turn their mourning into joy,
    and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness,
    and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.

15 Yahweh says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children.
    She refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are no more.”

16 Yahweh says:

“Refrain your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears;
    for your work will be rewarded,” says Yahweh.
    “They will come again from the land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your latter end,” says Yahweh.
    “Your children will come again to their own territory.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus,
    ‘You have chastised me,
    and I was chastised, as an untrained calf.
Turn me, and I will be turned;
    for you are Yahweh my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned.
    I repented.
After that I was instructed.
    I struck my thigh.
I was ashamed, yes, even confounded,
    because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son?
    Is he a darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I still earnestly remember him.
therefore my heart yearns for him.
    I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.

21 “Set up road signs.
    Make guideposts.
Set your heart toward the highway,
    even the way by which you went.
Turn again, virgin of Israel.
    Turn again to these your cities.
22 How long will you go here and there,
    you backsliding daughter?
For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth:
    a woman will encompass a man.”

23 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I reverse their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’ 24 Judah and all its cities will dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

26 On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

27 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of animal. 28 It will happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” says Yahweh. 29 “In those days they will say no more,

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

30 But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.

31 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh,
    “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel,
    and with the house of Judah:
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;
    which covenant of mine they broke,
    although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.
33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,”
    says Yahweh:
“I will put my law in their inward parts,
    and I will write it in their heart.
I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor,
    and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’
for they will all know me,
    from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh:
“for I will forgive their iniquity,
    and I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day,
    and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,
who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar;
    Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:
36 “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh,
    “then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured,
    and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
    then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” says Yahweh.

38 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city will be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner. 39 The measuring line will go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and will turn toward Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”

The Joyful Return of the Exiles

31 At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.(A)

Thus says the Lord:
The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,(B)
    the Lord appeared to him[a] from far away.[b]
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.(C)
Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with your tambourines
    and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.(D)
Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.(E)
For there shall be a day when sentinels will call
    in the hill country of Ephraim:
“Come, let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.”(F)

For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    “Save, O Lord, your people,
    the remnant of Israel.”(G)
See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north
    and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
    those with child and those in labor together;
    a great company, they shall return here.(H)
With weeping they shall come,
    and with consolations[c] I will lead them back;
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path where they shall not stumble,
for I have become a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is my firstborn.(I)

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
    and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.”(J)
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.(K)
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
    and they shall never languish again.(L)
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.[d]
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.(M)
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
            says the Lord.(N)

15 Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are no more.(O)
16 Thus says the Lord:
Keep your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
            says the Lord:
    they shall come back from the land of the enemy;(P)
17 there is hope for your future,
            says the Lord:
    your children shall come back to their own country.(Q)

18 Indeed, I heard Ephraim pleading:
“You disciplined me, and I took the discipline;
    I was like an untrained calf.
Bring me back; let me come back,
    for you are the Lord my God.(R)
19 For after I had turned away I repented,
    and after I was discovered, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was dismayed
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”(S)
20 Is Ephraim my dear son?
    Is he the child in whom I delight?
As often as I speak against him,
    I still remember him.
Therefore I am deeply moved for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
            says the Lord.(T)

21 Set up road markers for yourself;
    make yourself signposts;
consider well the highway,
    the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
    return to these your cities.(U)
22 How long will you waver,
    O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
    a woman encompasses[e] 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 towns when I restore their fortunes:

“The Lord bless you, O abode of righteousness,
    O holy hill!”(V)

24 And Judah and all its towns shall live there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.(W)

25 I will satisfy the weary,
    and all who are faint I will replenish.(X)

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

Individual Retribution

27 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals.(Y) 28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord.(Z) 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

“The parents have eaten sour grapes,
    and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”(AA)

30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of the one who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.(AB)

A New Covenant

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.(AC) 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.(AD) 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.(AE) 34 No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.(AF)

35 Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
    and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name:(AG)
36 If this fixed order were ever to cease
    from my presence, says the Lord,
then also the offspring of Israel would cease
    to be a nation before me forever.(AH)

37 Thus says the Lord:
If the heavens above can be measured
    and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will reject all the offspring of Israel
    because of all they have done,
            says the Lord.(AI)

Jerusalem to Be Enlarged

38 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.(AJ) 39 And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes and all the fields as far as the Wadi Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the Lord. It shall never again be uprooted or overthrown.(AK)

Footnotes

  1. 31.3 Gk: Heb me
  2. 31.3 Or to him long ago
  3. 31.9 Gk: Heb supplications
  4. 31.13 Cn: Heb old together
  5. 31.22 Meaning of Heb uncertain